The 100 Seat Airplane
People are waiting in line to board a 100-seat airplane. Steve is the first person in the line. He gets on the plane but suddenly can't remember what his seat number is, so he picks a seat at random. After that, each person who gets on the plane sits in their assigned seat if it's available, otherwise they will choose an open seat at random to sit in.
The flight is full and you are last in line. What is the probability that you get to sit in your assigned seat?
The flight is full and you are last in line. What is the probability that you get to sit in your assigned seat?
Hint: You don't need to use complex math to solve this riddle. Consider these two questions:
What happens if somebody sits in your seat?
What happens if somebody sits in Steve's assigned seat?
The correct answer is 1/2.
The chase that the first person in line takes your seat is equal to the chance that he takes his own seat. If he takes his own seat initially then you have a 100% chance of sitting in your seat, if he takes your seat you have a 0 percent chance. Now after the first person has picked a seat, the second person will enter the plan and, if the first person has sat in his seat, he will pick randomly, and again, the chance that he picks your seat is equal to the chance he picks someone your seat. The motion will continue until someone sits in the first persons seat, at this point the remaining people standing in line which each be able to sit in their own seats. Well how does that probability look in equation form? (2/100) * 50% + (98/100) * ( (2/98) * 50% + (96/98) * ( (2/96) * (50%) +... (2/2) * (50%) ) ) This expansion reduces to 1/2.
An easy way to see this is trying the problem with a 3 or 4 person scenario (pretend its a car). Both scenarios have probabilities of 1/2. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
The chase that the first person in line takes your seat is equal to the chance that he takes his own seat. If he takes his own seat initially then you have a 100% chance of sitting in your seat, if he takes your seat you have a 0 percent chance. Now after the first person has picked a seat, the second person will enter the plan and, if the first person has sat in his seat, he will pick randomly, and again, the chance that he picks your seat is equal to the chance he picks someone your seat. The motion will continue until someone sits in the first persons seat, at this point the remaining people standing in line which each be able to sit in their own seats. Well how does that probability look in equation form? (2/100) * 50% + (98/100) * ( (2/98) * 50% + (96/98) * ( (2/96) * (50%) +... (2/2) * (50%) ) ) This expansion reduces to 1/2.
An easy way to see this is trying the problem with a 3 or 4 person scenario (pretend its a car). Both scenarios have probabilities of 1/2. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Chocolate All Year Long
Hint:
A Lions Appetite Riddle
Hint:
Throwing Rum Riddle
What is the easiest way to throw a bottle of Rum, have it stop, and completely reverse direction after traveling a short distance?
Hint:
20 Apples Riddle
There are 20 people in an empty, square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it without turning his head or body, or moving in any way (other than the eyes). Where can you place an apple so that all but one person can see it?
Hint:
Cabin On The Mountain Riddle
There is a cabin on the side of a mountain. Three people are inside and they are dead. How did they die?
Hint:
They were killed in a plane crash The three people were the pilot, co-pilot, and navigator. They crashed in snow storm. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Breakfast And Tea Riddle
People speak through me, yet I do not make a sound.
People can sell me, yet I have many clones.
I can bring you laughter between breakfast and tea,
Yet I can also break your heart easily.
I cover the earth like trees of old,
Whose leaves can blind and yet enfold.
People can sell me, yet I have many clones.
I can bring you laughter between breakfast and tea,
Yet I can also break your heart easily.
I cover the earth like trees of old,
Whose leaves can blind and yet enfold.
Hint:
A book. Authors can speak to you through a book, yet the book makes no sound. Books are sold and have many duplicate copies. A book can bring the reader to tears and laughter, they span the globe and the leaves of a book (a single sheet in a book is called a leaf) can get you wrapped up in the story that youre unaware of whats going on around you. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
How Do You Survive Riddle
Your father is a scientist who has invented a red pill which, if eaten with 1 blue pill which he has invented, will grant immortality. The night he invents it, he gives you 2 red and 2 blue pills just in case one of them is lost or substandard. He also warns you that an overdose will cause the opposite effect and kill you instead.
You put the pills in your pocket and leave his lab for home. On the way home, you are abducted by aliens who blindfold you and throw you into a singularity. At this point, you remember the pills your father gave you. You take them out (you can move and have enough oxygen in space for a short time), but realize that you can't tell the red pill from the blue pill. Even if you take off your blindfold, you can't see anything due to your proximity to the black hole. Given the circumstances, how do you successfully eat 1 red and 1 blue pill and survive?
You put the pills in your pocket and leave his lab for home. On the way home, you are abducted by aliens who blindfold you and throw you into a singularity. At this point, you remember the pills your father gave you. You take them out (you can move and have enough oxygen in space for a short time), but realize that you can't tell the red pill from the blue pill. Even if you take off your blindfold, you can't see anything due to your proximity to the black hole. Given the circumstances, how do you successfully eat 1 red and 1 blue pill and survive?
Hint:
Coffee Diner Riddle
A man walks into a diner and sits down. There's a new waitress working that he's never seen before. When she comes to his table to take his order, he says "Just a cup of coffee please." A few minutes later the waitress brings the man his coffee and heads back to the kitchen. A short while later, the man notices that there is a fly in his coffee and calls the waitress back. He asks her nicely to bring him another cup. The waitress brings the man's cup of coffee back to the kitchen and returns a few moments later. "Here you are, I poured you a new cup of coffee, no fly this time" she says and hands him the cup. The waitress turns around and starts to head back to the kitchen. She only takes a few steps before she hears the man shout out "Hey, this is the same cup of coffee, all you did was remove the fly!"
Assuming the coffee was still hot, how did the man know it was the same cup of coffee?
Assuming the coffee was still hot, how did the man know it was the same cup of coffee?
Hint: A man walks into a diner and sits down. There's a new waitress working that he's never seen before. When she comes to his table to take his order, he says "Just a cup of coffee please." A few minutes later the waitress brings the man his coffee and heads
Because the coffee was sweet. The man had added sugar to his coffee before noticing the fly. When the waitress brought him the "new" cup of coffee, he took a sip (to check whether it was in fact a newly poured cup of coffee) and noticed that the coffee was "already" sweet. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Driven Through The Day Riddle
People are driven through the day by me
Late nights I do inspire
If not contained I run wild
What am I?
Late nights I do inspire
If not contained I run wild
What am I?
Hint:
Late For The Bus Riddle
A married couple is traveling by bus on dangerous mountain roads. Midway through their journey the bus stops for snacks and a restroom break. The couple is enjoying the postcards in the store when the bus driver curtly tells them its past time to leave. Fifteen minutes after, the bus is hit by a mud slide and two people are killed. The couple blames themselves for the deaths. Why?
Hint:
They blame themselves because they caused the bus to be late. If they had been on time, the bus would have already passed the location of the mud slide. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
The Bus Stop Riddle
An empty bus pulls up at a stop and 5 people get on. At the next stop 5 people get off and twice as many people get on as at the first stop. At the third stop 10 people get off.
How many people are on the bus at this point?
How many people are on the bus at this point?
Hint:
Ne, the bus driver.
On the 1st stop, 5 people get on. On the 2nd stop, 5 people get off and 10 (twice as many as at 1st stop) people get on. On the 3rd stop, 10 people get off. So there are (5 5 + 10 10) 0 passengers left, which leaves the bus driver as the only person on board the bus. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
On the 1st stop, 5 people get on. On the 2nd stop, 5 people get off and 10 (twice as many as at 1st stop) people get on. On the 3rd stop, 10 people get off. So there are (5 5 + 10 10) 0 passengers left, which leaves the bus driver as the only person on board the bus. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
From Block To Block Riddle
I carry lots of people.
I pick them up and drop them off.
I might travel from city to city.
I might only go from block to block.
I am a...
I pick them up and drop them off.
I might travel from city to city.
I might only go from block to block.
I am a...
Hint:
Saturn Has Them Riddle
Saturn has them. Married people wear them. A tree's age can be determined by counting them. What is it?
Hint:
Rings Of Age Riddle
People climb me, cut me and burn me, they show me no respect! My rings are not of gold, but they do tell my age?
Hint:
Add Your Riddle Here
Have some tricky riddles of your own? Leave them below for our users to try and solve.