Pearl Problems Riddle
"I'm a very rich man, so I've decided to give you some of my fortune. Do you see this bag? I have 5001 pearls inside it. 2501 of them are white, and 2500 of them are black. No, I am not racist. I'll let you take out any number of pearls from the bag without looking. If you take out the same number of black and white pearls, I will reward you with a number of gold bars equivalent to the number of pearls you took."
How many pearls should you take out to give yourself a good number of gold bars while still retaining a good chance of actually getting them?
How many pearls should you take out to give yourself a good number of gold bars while still retaining a good chance of actually getting them?
Hint: If you took out 2 pearls, you would have about a 50% chance of getting 2 gold bars. However, you can take even more pearls and still retain the 50% chance.
Take out 5000 pearls. If the remaining pearl is white, then you've won 5000 gold bars! Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
The Secret Santa Exchange
A group of ten friends decide to exchange gifts as secret Santas. Each person writes his or her name on a piece of paper and puts it in a hat. Then each person randomly draws a name from the hat to determine who has him as his or her secret Santa. The secret Santa then makes a gift for the person whose name he drew.
When it's time to exchange presents, each person walks over to the person he made the gift for and holds his or her left hand in his right hand.
What is the probability that the 10 friends holding hands form a single continuous circle?
When it's time to exchange presents, each person walks over to the person he made the gift for and holds his or her left hand in his right hand.
What is the probability that the 10 friends holding hands form a single continuous circle?
Hint: It's not as difficult as it seems.
It's the number of ways the friends can form a circle divided by the number of ways the names can be drawn out of the hat.
1/10
For a group of n friends, there are n! (n factorial) ways to draw the names out of the hat. Since a circle does not have a beginning and end, choose one person as the beginning and end of the circle. There are now (n-1)! ways to distribute the remaining people around the circle. Thus the probability of forming a single circle is
(n-1)! / n!
Since n! = (n-1)! * n (for n > 1), this can be rewritten as
(n-1)! / (n*(n-1)!)
Factoring out the (n-1)! from the numerator and denominator leaves
1/n
as the probability. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
For a group of n friends, there are n! (n factorial) ways to draw the names out of the hat. Since a circle does not have a beginning and end, choose one person as the beginning and end of the circle. There are now (n-1)! ways to distribute the remaining people around the circle. Thus the probability of forming a single circle is
(n-1)! / n!
Since n! = (n-1)! * n (for n > 1), this can be rewritten as
(n-1)! / (n*(n-1)!)
Factoring out the (n-1)! from the numerator and denominator leaves
1/n
as the probability. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
Prints In The Sand
Im something with five digits
But I am not a hand
When you walk along the beach
I leave prints in the sand
What could I be?
But I am not a hand
When you walk along the beach
I leave prints in the sand
What could I be?
Hint:
Dressed In All Black
A man dressed in all black is walking down a country lane. Suddenly, a large black car without any lights on comes round the corner and screeches to a halt. How did the car know he was there?
Hint:
Waking In Woods Riddle
Hint:
An Absentminded Philosopher Riddle
An absentminded philosopher forgot to wind up the only clock in his house. He had no radio, television, telephone, internet, or any other means of ascertaining the time. He therefore decided to travel by foot to his friend's house, a few miles down a straight desert road. He stayed there for the night and when he came back home the following morning, he was able to set his clock to the correct time. Assuming the philosopher always walks at the same speed, how did he know the exact time upon his return? Note: this is not a trick question. The Philosopher did not bring anything to his friend's house, nor did he bring anything back with him on his trip home.
Hint: We can assume that the journey to his friend's and back took exactly the same amount of time.
He Philosopher winds the grandfather clock to a random time right before leaving, 9:00 for example. Although this is not the right time, the clock can now be used to measure elapsed time. As soon as he arrives at his friend's house, the Philosopher looks at the time on his friend's clock. Let's say the time is 7:15. He stays overnight and then, before leaving in the morning, he looks at the clock one more time. Let's say the time is now 10:15 (15 hours later). When the Philosopher arrives home, he looks at his grandfather clock. Let's say his clock reads 12:40. By subtracting the time he set it to when he left (9:00) from the current time (12:40) he knows that he has been gone for 15 hours and 40 minutes. He knows that he spent 15 hours at his friends house, so that means he spent 40 minutes walking. Since he walked at the same speed both ways, it took him 20 minutes to walk from his friend's home back to his place. So the correct time to set the clock to in this example would therefore be 10:15 (the time he left his friend's house) + 20 minutes (the time it took him to walk home) = 10:35. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
A London Scholar Riddle
There was a London scholar walking along.
He pulled of his gloves an Drew of his
head. What was that London scholars name?
He pulled of his gloves an Drew of his
head. What was that London scholars name?
Hint: The name was inside the sentence.
Unwilling To Kiss
First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me whats always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me whats always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
Hint:
Sad Teeth Riddle
Hint:
A Sharpshooter Riddle
A sharpshooter hangs up his hat, turns around and walks 5000 meters, then turns around and shoots his gun, putting a hole right through his hat. How did he do it?
Hint:
A Real Gun With Real Bullets
A man walks into a his bathroom and shoots himself right between the eyes using a real gun with real bullets. He walks out alive, with no blood anywhere. And no, he didn't miss and he wasn't Superman or any other caped crusader.
How did he do this?
How did he do this?
Hint:
Sad Teeth Riddle
Hint:
A Glass Of Water
A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a glass of water. The bartender reaches under the bar and brings out a gun and aims it at the man. The man says thank you and leaves. What happened?
Hint: Why would the man want a glass of water?
The man had the hiccups and wanted a glass of water to help get rid of them. The bartender could hear the hiccups when the man spoke, so he brought the gun out to scare the hiccups away. It worked and the man thanked him and left, no longer needing the glass of water. Did you answer this riddle correctly?
YES NO
YES NO
Strive With Wind And Wave Riddle
Off I must strive with wind and wave, battle them both
when under the sea.
I feel out the bottom, a foreign land. In lying still, I am
Strong in the strife;
If I fail in that, they are stronger than I, and
Wrenching me loose, soon put me to rout.
They wish to capture what I must keep. I can master
Them both if my grip holds out,
If the rocks bring succor and lend support, strength
In the struggle. Ask my name
when under the sea.
I feel out the bottom, a foreign land. In lying still, I am
Strong in the strife;
If I fail in that, they are stronger than I, and
Wrenching me loose, soon put me to rout.
They wish to capture what I must keep. I can master
Them both if my grip holds out,
If the rocks bring succor and lend support, strength
In the struggle. Ask my name
Hint:
I Never Was But Always Will Be Riddle
I never was but always will be. No one ever saw me but everyone knows I exist. I give people the motivation to better themselves everyday. What am I?
Hint:
Add Your Riddle Here
Have some tricky riddles of your own? Leave them below for our users to try and solve.