LucidDreamer Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 This is a thread where each poster gives a riddle or an answer to a previous riddle. I'll start it off with a simple riddle. There are at least two answers that I know of. What can you put in a barrel and make it lighter (can't remove the air and add a lighter composition of air or add a container of gas.)?
LucidDreamer Posted October 22, 2004 Author Posted October 22, 2004 Yes, maybe that was too easy. A man wants to find out what switch operates which light in an apartment complex. The problem is that the 3 switches are on the first floor and the lights are on the second floor. He can't see what switch turns on what light when he is on the first floor and no one is home to help him. Furthermore every time he gets halfway up the staircase a motion detector turns off the light upstairs so when he gets upstairs the light is already off. How can he find out which switch operates which light?
Gilded Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 He could turn the switch in a way that it's a millimeter from being in on-position, then climb the stairs and then throw a shoe at the switch to turn it on. Or, he could just break the motion detector. Or walk out of the house and check if light's visible at the apartment windows.
Mokele Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 Turn a switch on, leave it on for maybe 5 minutes, then go upstairs and feel the bulb. If it's warm, then the bulb was turned on by that switch. Then call the landlord and yell at him about the motion detector turning your light off.
Kingpin1989 Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 I'll quote one from Tolkien "An eye in a blue face saw an eye in a green face, and said 'that eye is like to this eye, but in low place, not in high place"
Callipygous Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 three guys are serving a life sentence in jail, one of them is blind. a gaurd comes in with 3 red hats and 2 white hats. he tells them that he is going to put one hat on each of their heads, they each get to see the color of the other two prisoners's hats, but not their own, except the blind dude, who is SOL. he tells each of them that if they can guess the color of the hat on their head he will let them go free, if they guess wrong they die, if they say nothing they stay and serve their sentence. The first dude guesses, gets it wrong and dies. The second guy also guesses, also gets it wrong, and dies. The third guy (the blind one) guesses the color of his hat and goes free. what was the color of the blind mans hat and how did he know?
Callipygous Posted October 22, 2004 Posted October 22, 2004 I'll quote one from Tolkien "An eye in a blue face saw an eye in a green face' date=' and said 'that eye is like to this eye, but in low place, not in high place"[/quote'] how abstract are we talking here? sun looking at its reflection on a lake or something on earth?
Sorcerer Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 three guys are serving a life sentence in jail' date=' one of them is blind. a gaurd comes in with 3 red hats and 2 white hats. he tells them that he is going to put one hat on each of their heads, they each get to see the color of the other two prisoners's hats, but not their own, except the blind dude, who is SOL. he tells each of them that if they can guess the color of the hat on their head he will let them go free, if they guess wrong they die, if they say nothing they stay and serve their sentence. The first dude guesses, gets it wrong and dies. The second guy also guesses, also gets it wrong, and dies. The third guy (the blind one) guesses the color of his hat and goes free. what was the color of the blind mans hat and how did he know?[/quote'] His hat was red, because the first two people guessed red and got it wrong they were wearing white hats, therefore the last 3 people were all wearing red hats.
Callipygous Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 His hat was red, because the first two people guessed red and got it wrong they were wearing white hats, therefore the last 3 people were all wearing red hats. there are only 3 people total. and no, thats not how he knows. the answer is not something you set up. all the conditions and information to be used in getting the answer are already in the problem. as in "the first two people guessed red and got it wrong they were wearing white hats" is an assumption you cant make.
Sorcerer Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 Mind you, this would rely upon the first two people being retarded... they see 3 red hats and a white hat and guess red.....
Callipygous Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 Mind you, this would rely upon the first two people being retarded... they see 3 red hats and a white hat and guess red..... there are only 3 people... not 5.
TimeTraveler Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 three guys are serving a life sentence in jail, one of them is blind. a gaurd comes in with 3 red hats and 2 white hats. he tells them that he is going to put one hat on each of their heads, they each get to see the color of the other two prisoners's hats, but not their own, except the blind dude, who is SOL. he tells each of them that if they can guess the color of the hat on their head he will let them go free, if they guess wrong they die, if they say nothing they stay and serve their sentence. The first dude guesses, gets it wrong and dies. The second guy also guesses, also gets it wrong, and dies. The third guy (the blind one) guesses the color of his hat and goes free. what was the color of the blind mans hat and how did he know? Color is only a perception of human sense (vision, through wavelengths of light that our brain in turn perceives and creates color) so if he said colorless he would have been correct on any account.
Callipygous Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 Color is only a perception of human sense (vision, through wavelengths of light that our brain in turn perceives and creates color) so if he said colorless he would have been correct on any account. oh, for the love of christ...
TimeTraveler Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 I take it thats not the answer you were looking for Lol. It works though
AtomicMX Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 perhaps if the hats would be 2 red and 2 white.... is could be answered correctly
john5746 Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 three guys are serving a life sentence in jail' date=' one of them is blind. a gaurd comes in with 3 red hats and 2 white hats. he tells them that he is going to put one hat on each of their heads, they each get to see the color of the other two prisoners's hats, but not their own, except the blind dude, who is SOL. he tells each of them that if they can guess the color of the hat on their head he will let them go free, if they guess wrong they die, if they say nothing they stay and serve their sentence. The first dude guesses, gets it wrong and dies. The second guy also guesses, also gets it wrong, and dies. The third guy (the blind one) guesses the color of his hat and goes free. what was the color of the blind mans hat and how did he know?[/quote'] I guess if the blind guy only hears "white" from the other two, he could conclude his is red. Still, how does he even know there are red and white hats?
john5746 Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 OOps. Actually, the only way he could be sure is if they both have white hats If they guess right or wrong, he will know they have white hats and that he must have a red hat.
Callipygous Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 OOps. Actually, the only way he could be sure is if they both have white hats If they guess right or wrong, he will know they have white hats and that he must have a red hat. they know how many hats of what color there are. they see the other two guys hats. hint: the blind guy doesnt know (or need to know)the color of the other guys hats. he doesnt need to hear their guesses either. only that they were wrong.
ledzeppelin3 Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 The blind guy just got lucky. He has a one out of five chance, I mean c'mon?
MolecularMan14 Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5636&highlight=riddles+thread I thought it looked familiar
Sayonara Posted October 23, 2004 Posted October 23, 2004 If anyone wants a clue to the blind man puzzle, the solution to a similar problem is here: 26033
LucidDreamer Posted October 23, 2004 Author Posted October 23, 2004 The blind man has a red hat on and the other two prisoners also had red hats on. The prisoners are going to guess based on the odds. If the first prisoner looks and sees that both of the other prisoners have red hats he is going to guess he has a white because it is statistically more probable that he will have a white if the hats are randomly placed. He will be wrong, and the second guy will guess white as well and he will be wrong. It can't work any other way because if he sees that the other two have a white and a red hat then he will guess he has a red because it is statistically more probable that he has a red hat. If he looks at the other two and sees that they have white hats then he will guess correctly because he has to have a red hat. So the only way that it is possible for them to guess according to the most probable choice and at the same time be wrong is if they all have red hats. Opps also, the first two men could both have white hats and both guess red hats and still the blind man would have to guess a red hat because that is the only possible hat that the blind man can have if both men are wrong and both play the odds. "An eye in a blue face saw an eye in a green face, and said 'that eye is like to this eye, but in low place, not in high place" Is this the sun looking down at its reflection on a lake? Turn a switch on, leave it on for maybe 5 minutes, then go upstairs and feel the bulb. If it's warm, then the bulb was turned on by that switch. That's the answer I was looking for.
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