Abacus - The Quant Club

of WIMWI
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Puzzle Set 1
1. You are given a fair cubical dice with 6 sides with 1 to 6 printed on each side. Suppose you are given three attempts to roll the dice.
You may stop rolling the dice after the first attempt or after the first two attempts or after all the 3 attempts. Whenever you stop, the
number on the side facing up is your score.
If you wish to get the maximum score, what should be your strategy?
Solution :
The expected value of the number that would show up on the dice in any attempt would be 3.5
Now let us work backwards.
Suppose your score is x after 2 attempts, i.e. you have rolled twice and the dice showed x on the 2nd attempt. Clearly, if x > 3.5, you would not go for the 3rd
attempt, i.e., if you get 1, 2, or 3 in the 2nd attempt, you will go for the 3rd attempt, otherwise not.
Now suppose your score is w in the 1st attempt. The expected score if you do not go for the 2nd attempt is 3.5; if you go for the 2nd attempt, then the expected
score would be calculated as follows:
(1/2) * 5 + (1/2) * 3.5 = 4.25
This is because if you get 1, 2, or 3 in the 2nd attempt (with probability of 1/2), you will go for the 3rd attempt and your expected score would be 3.5. If you
get 4, 5, or 6 in the 2nd attempt (with probability of 1/2), you will stop after the 2nd attempt and your expected score would be 5. Therefore, if w > 4.25, you
would not go for the 2nd attempt, i.e., if you get 1, 2, 3, or 4 in the 1st attempt, you will go for the 2nd attempt, otherwise not.

2. You hire a worker to work for you for seven days. In return for his work, you will pay him 1/7th of a bar of gold per day. The worker
requires a daily payment of 1/7th of the bar of gold. What and where are the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will allow you
to pay him 1/7th each day? On successive days, he may use what you paid him previously to make change.
Solution :
An important thing to note is that the worker may use what you paid him previously to make change.
Divide the bar into 3 pieces using 2 cuts.
X: 1/7th of the bar
Y: 2/7th of the bar
Z: 4/7th of the bar
Day 1: Give the worker X
Day 2: Give him Y, bring back X
Day 3: Give him X
Day 4: Give him Z, bring back X & Y
Day 5: Give him X
Day 6: Give him Y, bring back X
Day 7: Give him X

3. You play a game with me. We decide to take turns to call out integers. We follow the following rules:
The person calling first should call out a number between 1 and 10, both inclusive.
The next player should call out a new number which must exceed the most recent number called by at least 1 and at most 10.
The first person to call out 101 wins.
Both of us play intelligently. Can you win the game? If yes, what is your strategy? If no, why not?
Solution :
You want to call 101. You can do this if
I call any integer between 91 and 100 (both included), which will happen if
you call 90. You can do this if
I call any integer between 80 and 89 (both included), which will happen if
you call 79.
If you go on like this, you would find out out that
you would call 101, 90 (=101-11), 79 (=90-11), 68 (=79-11), ....., 2.
Therefore the game winning strategy would be start the game by calling 2.

Puzzle Set 2
1. Three out of six lookalike balls are heavy. The other three are light. How many weighings on a beam balance are necessary to
identify the heavy balls?
Solution :
Let the balls be named ABCDEF. We weigh 1 ball each at a time.
If A > B, compare C and D.
If C = D, weigh A and C. If A = C then ACD are heavy
A > C then AEF are heavy
A < C this case is not possible
If C > D, weigh E and F. If E = F this case is not possible
E > F then ACE are heavy
E < F then ACF are heavy
If C < D similar to above (interchange C&D)

If A < B similar to above, interchange A and B

If A = B, compare A and C.
If A = C, weigh C and D. If C = D this case is not possible
C > D then ABC are heavy
C < D then DEF are heavy
If A > C, weigh D and E. If D = E then ABF are heavy
D > E then ABD are heavy
D < E then ABE are heavy
If A < C, weigh D and E. If D = E then CED are heavy
D > E then CDF are heavy
D < E then CEF are heavy
This can also be solved by just comparing (AB vs DE), (BC vs EF) and (AC vs DF). You can work out the conclusions on your own.

2. There are 10 sets of 10 coins. You know how much the coins should weigh. You know all the coins in one set of ten are exactly a
hundredth of an ounce off, making the entire set of ten coins a tenth of an ounce off. You also know that all the other coins weight the
correct amount. You are allowed to use an extremely accurate digital weighing machine only once.
How do you determine which set of 10 coins is faulty?
Solution :
Assume each coin weighs x ounces and a coin in the faulty set weighs x+0.01 ounces.
Take one coin from 1st set, 2 coins from 2nd set and so on.
Weigh these 55 coins, if you obtain 55x+0.01 ounces clearly the1st set is faulty, 55x+0.02 ounces would mean 2nd set is faulty and so on.

3. Three Palefaces were taken captive by a hostile Indian tribe. According to tribes custom they had to pass an intelligence test, or die.
The chieftain showed 5 headbands 2 red and 3 white. The 3 men were blindfolded and positioned one after another, face to back. The
chief put a headband on each of their heads, hid two remaining headbands, and removed their blindfolds. So the third man could see
the headbands on the two men in front of him, the second man could see the headband on the first, and the first could not see any
headbands at all.
According to the rules any one of the three men could speak first and try to guess his headband color. And if he guessed correctly they
passed the test and could go free, if not they failed. It so happened that all 3 Palefaces were prominent logicians from a nearby
academy. So after a few moments of silence, the first man in the line said: "My headband is ...". What color was his head band? Why?
Solution :
The third paleface could see the colour of the head bands of both in front of him. He is silent which implies that atleast one of the head bands he sees on the
other two is white. Second and First paleface being smart would have realised it.
In addition, if Second paleface would have seen that the First one has a Red head band he would have declared that he was wearing a White Red band.
But he remains silent, so the First Paleface concludes that he is wearing a White band.

Puzzle Set 3
1. There are 100 light bulbs lined up in a row in a long room. Each bulb has its own switch and is currently switched off. The room has
an entry door and an exit door. There are 100 people lined up outside the entry door. Each bulb is numbered consecutively from 1 to
100. So is each person.
Person No. 1 enters the room, switches on every bulb, and exits. Person No. 2 enters and flips the switch on every second bulb (turning
off bulbs 2, 4, 6, so on). Person No. 3 enters and flips the switch on every third bulb (changing the state on bulbs 3, 6, 9, so on). This
continues until all 100 people have passed through the room.
How many light bulbs are "on" after the 100th person has passed through the room?
Solution :
Let us consider a bulb and see who all operate (switch on/off) it. For example, who would operate bulb 48? The answer is the persons with numbers which
are factors of 48. Persons numbered: 1 & 48, 2 & 24, 3 & 16, 4 & 12, 6 & 8. Notice that all the factors (numbers by which 48 is divisible) appear in pairs. This
means that for every person who switches a bulb on there will be someone to switch it off. This will result in the bulb being back at its original state.
So why aren't all the bulbs off? Think of bulb 36:- The factors are: 1 & 36, 2 & 24, 3 & 12, 4 & 9, 6 & 6. Well in this case whilst all the factors are in pairs, the
number 6 is paired with itself. Clearly the sixth person will only flick the bulb once and hence this pair doesnt cancel out, leaving the bulb on. This is true of
all the square numbers. There are 10 square numbers between 1 and 100 (1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81 & 100) hence 10 bulbs remain on

2. There were two men having a meal. The first man brought 5 loaves of bread, and the second brought 3. A third man, Ali, came and
joined them. They together ate the whole 8 loaves. As he left Ali gave the men 8 coins as a thank you. The first man said that he would
take 5 of the coins and give his partner 3, but the second man refused and asked for the half of the sum (i.e. 4 coins) as an equal
division. The first one refused.
They went to Ali and asked for the fair solution. Ali told the second man, "I think it is better for you to accept your partner's offer." But
the man refused and asked for justice. So Ali said, "then I say that who offered 5 loaves takes 7 coins, and who offered 3 loaves takes 1
coin." Can you explain why this was actually fair?
Solution :
The question is why give them 1 and 7 coins when they have brought 3 and 5 loaves respectively. The men may actually have brought 5 and 3 loaves but they
have also eaten something too.
It is reasonable to think that the 3 men shared the loaves equally, eating 2 loaves each, so the actual contributions of the two persons to the 3rd person are:
Person #1: 5 - 2 = 2
Person #2: 3 - 2 =
Person #1 gave 2 loaves, or looking at it in thirds they gave 7 thirds as opposed to person #2 who gave just 1 third. Hence, it is fair to divide the money in
the ratio 7:1
3. You are standing at the foot of a 200 storey building with two absolutely identical eggs. You can throw the egg from any floor and
see if it was broken or not. If not, you can reuse it again. Identify the minimum possible throws required in the worst case to find out
the breaking floor (lowest floor from which the eggs are broken if thrown)
Solution :
Minimum no. of throws required 20. One way to do this is as below
- Throw the egg from 20th floor
- If it breaks
Then start throwing the other egg beginning from 1st floor
No. of throws required in worst case 20 [1 (20th floor trial) + 19]
- If it doesnt break, throw the egg from 39th floor (20+19)
- If it breaks
Then start throwing the other egg beginning from 21st floor
No. of throws required in worst case 20 [2 (20th & 39th floor) + 18 (floor 21 to 38)]
- If it doesnt break, throw the egg from 57th floor (20+19+18)
Repeat this process till you cover all the 200 floors
In general if there are x floors, the minimum number of throws required will be equal to n where n is the lowest value satisfying n*(n+1)/2 >= x

Puzzle Set 4
1. Once upon a time there was a thief. He was caught while trying to steal from the Kings treasury. The King who was known for his
eccentric verdicts gave a similar verdict in this case.
It was decided that the thief will be facing gun shots. Two bullets would be placed in revolver (has 6 slots in the bullet chamber) in
successive order. The chamber will be rotated properly before taking the first shot at the thief. If the thief is still alive, he has the option
to choose to spin the chamber again before the second shot or directly facing another shot without spinning.
If the first shot drew a blank, what should the thief choose to spin the chamber or not to spin before facing the second shot?
Solution :
Thief should select the option to pull the trigger again without spinning.
We know that the first chamber was one of the four empty chambers. Since the bullets were placed in consecutive order, one of the empty chambers is
followed by a bullet, and the other three empty chambers are followed by another empty chamber. So if the trigger was pulled again, the probability that a
bullet will be fired is 1/4. If chamber was spun again, the probability that the thief would be shot is 2/6, or 1/3, since there are two possible bullets that would
be in firing position out of the six possible chambers that would be in position.
2. Three ants are sitting at the three corners of an equilateral triangle. Each ant starts randomly picks a direction and starts to move
along the edge of the triangle. What is the probability that none of the ants collide?
Solution :
P(No collision) = P(All ants go in a clockwise direction) + P( All ants go in an anti-clockwise direction) = 0.5 * 0.5 * 0.5 + 0.5 * 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25
3. You are to open a safe without knowing the combination. Beginning with the dial set at zero, the dial must be turned counterclockwise to the first combination number, (then clockwise back to zero), and clockwise to the second combination number, (then
counter-clockwise back to zero), and counter-clockwise again to the third and final number, where upon the door shall immediately
spring open. There are 40 numbers on the dial, including the zero.
Without knowing the combination numbers, what is the maximum number of trials required to open the safe (one trial equals one
attempt to dial a full three-number combination)?
Solution :
The key word here is 'immediately.'
The implication of this is that you do not have to try 40 times at the last number for each combination of the first number two numbers.
With this in mind you see that after any combination of the first two numbers you can, instead of trying all of the 40 possibilities for the last number, just
turn the dial all the way to the end for the last number; in doing this you will necessarily pass the correct number where upon 'the door shall immediately
spring open.'
40 x 40 = 1600

Puzzle Set 5
1. Two players A & B play a marble game. Each player has both a red and a blue marble. They present one marble to each other. If both
present red, A wins Rs 3. If both present blue, A wins Rs 3. If the colours do not match, B wins Rs 2. Is it better to be A or B?

Solution : Assuming that they have equal probabilities of presenting Red or Blue, A has an expected payoff of Rs 1.5 and B has an expected payoff of Rs 1. So it
is better to be A.
But hold on !! If it would have been like this - "If both present red, A wins Rs 3. If both present blue, A wins Rs 3. If the colours do not match, B wins Rs 2."
Then the expected payoffs for both A & B would have been Rs 1. You can stop reading right here and try to solve by yourself. Read on for the answer.
Player B has a variance of Rs 1 and A has a variance of Rs 1.5. So if you are risk averse, it is better to be Player B since it offers the same expected return, but
less risk. 2. You hire a worker to work for you for seven days. In return for his work, you will pay him 1/7th of a bar of gold per day. The
worker requires a daily payment of 1/7th of the bar of gold. What and where are the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will
allow you to pay him 1/7th each day? On successive days, he may use what you paid him previously to make change.
Solution :
An important thing to note is that the worker may use what you paid him previously to make change.
Divide the bar into 3 pieces using 2 cuts.
X: 1/7th of the bar
Y: 2/7th of the bar
Z: 4/7th of the bar
Day 1: Give the worker X
Day 2: Give him Y, bring back X
Day 3: Give him X
Day 4: Give him Z, bring back X & Y
Day 5: Give him X
Day 6: Give him Y, bring back X
Day 7: Give him X

3. You play a game with me. We decide to take turns to call out integers. We follow the following rules:
The person calling first should call out a number between 1 and 10, both inclusive.
The next player should call out a new number which must exceed the most recent number called by at least 1 and at most 10.
The first person to call out 101 wins.
Both of us play intelligently. Can you win the game? If yes, what is your strategy? If no, why not?
Solution :
You want to call 101. You can do this if
I call any integer between 91 and 100 (both included), which will happen if
you call 90. You can do this if
I call any integer between 80 and 89 (both included), which will happen if
you call 79.
If you go on like this, you would find out out that
you would call 101, 90 (=101-11), 79 (=90-11), 68 (=79-11), ....., 2.
Therefore the game winning strategy would be start the game by calling 2.

Puzzle Set 6
1. Two players play the following game with a fair coin. Player 1 chooses (and announces) a triplet (HHH, HHT, HTH, HTT, THH, THT,
TTH, or TTT) that might result from three successive tosses of the coin. Player 2 then chooses a different triplet. The players toss the
coin until one of the two named triplets appears. The triplets may appear in any three consecutive tosses: (1st, 2nd, 3rd), (2nd, 3rd,
4th), and so on. The winner is the player whose triplet appears first.
a. What is the optimal strategy for each player? With best play, who is most likely to win?
b. Suppose the triplets were chosen in secret? What then would be the optimal strategy?
c. What would be the optimal strategy against a randomly selected triplet?
Solution :
To answer these questions we need to calculate, for each pair of triplets, the probability that one triplet appears before the other. Given that each triplet is
equally likely, it may initially seem that each is equally likely to appear first. For an example of why this is not so, consider the triplets HHH and THH. The
only way for HHH to appear before THH is if the first three tosses come up heads. Any other result will allow THH to block HHH. Therefore, the probability
that HHH appears before THH is 1/8.
We may calculate the probabilities for each pair in a similar manner. Consider, for example, HTT versus HHT. The probability HTT appears first is the mean
of that probability over the four possibilities for the first two coin tosses. Let, for example, p(HT) be the probability HTT appears first following HT. Suppose
the first two throws are HH. Then the third throw can be either H or T. If it's H, then we are back in the same position: the preceding two throws are HH. But
if it's T, then HHT has won! So the probability of HTT winning in this case is 0.
Putting the two possibilities for the third throw together, as a weighted mean, the probability that HTT wins following HH is: p(HH) = 1/2 x p(HH) + 1/2 x 0
= p(HH)/2. Now suppose the first two throws are HT. If the third throw is H, then neither player has won, and the probability HTT will ultimately win is (by
definition) p(TH). (The last two throws were TH.) On the other hand, if the third throw is T, then HTT has won!
So this time the weighted mean for the probability that HTT wins, following HT is: p(HT) = 1/2 x p(TH) + 1/2 x 1 = p(TH)/2 + 1/2. Continuing in this way, we
obtain the results below:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

p(HH) = p(HH)/2
p(HT) = p(TH)/2 + 1/2
p(TH) = p(HH)/2 + p(HT)/2
p(TT) = p(TH)/2 + p(TT)/2

(1)
(3)
(2)
(3)
(4)

implies:->p(HH) = 0. (Intuitively, HTT can avoid losing only by hoping for an infinite string of heads!)
implies:->p(TH) = p(HT)/2
implies:->p(HT) = p(HT)/4 + 1/2 implies:->p(HT) = 2/3
implies:->p(TH) = 1/3
implies:->p(TT) = p(TH) implies:->p(TT) = 1/3

The mean of these four results gives us: probability of HTT appearing before HHT = 1/3.
The optimal strategy for player 1 is to choose triplet HTH or HTT, or their mirror images, THT or THH. This limits player 2's probability of winning to 2/3.
2. Two players take turns choosing one number at a time (without replacement) from the set {-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. The first player
to obtain three numbers (out of three, four, or five) which sum to 0 wins.
Does either player have a forced win?
Solution :
Consider a 3 x 3 magic square, wherein all of the rows, columns, and diagonals sum to 0; example below. It's not difficult to see that the aim of the game, as
stated, can be satisfied if, and only if, the three integers fall in the same row, column, or diagonal.
1

2 -3

-4 0 4
3 -2 -1
Hence the game is equivalent to tic-tac-toe, or noughts and crosses, a game which, with best play, is well known to be a draw. Therefore neither player has a
forced win.
3. Prove that if p is a prime number greater than 3 then, p^2 - 1 is divisible by 24.
Solution :
The solution relies on showing that p^2 - 1 is a multiple of 2x2x2x3
First expand p^2 - 1 to give:
p^2 - 1 = (p - 1) x (p + 1)
Then consider the terms on the right hand side, firstly since we know that p must be odd p -1 and p + 1 must be even. so we have two of the factors we require.
Additionally since p - 1 and p + 1 effectively form 2 consecutive even numbers one of them must be a multiple of 4 thus we have another of our factors of 2. So
far we have 2x2x2, now to get the factor of 3
p - 1, p & p + 1 form three consecutive numbers. in any three consecutive numbers one will be a multiple of 3, we know it is not p which is a multiple of 3, as
this is prime, hence either p - 1 or p + 1 is a multiple.

Puzzle Set 7
1. There are twenty coins sitting on the table, ten are currently heads and tens are currently tails. You are sitting at the table with a
blindfold and gloves on. You are able to feel where the coins are, but are unable to see or feel if they heads or tails. You must create two
sets of coins. Each set must have the same number of heads and tails as the other group. You can only move or flip the coins; you are
unable to determine their current state. How do you create two even groups of coins with the same number of heads and tails in each
group?
Solution :
Create two sets of ten coins. Flip the coins in one of the sets over, and leave the coins in the other set alone. The first set of ten coins will have the same
number of heads and tails as the other set of ten coins.

2. In front of you are three poles. One pole is stacked with 8 rings ranging in weight from one ounce (at the top) to 8 ounces (at the
bottom). Your task is to move all the rings to one of the other two poles so that they end up in the same order. The rules are that you
can move only one ring at a time, you can move a ring only from one pole to another, and you cannot even temporarily place a heavier
ring on top of a lighter ring.
What is the minimum number of moves you need to achieve the task?
Solution :
Let the posts be labelled A, B ,C. A initially has the 8 rings, C is the desired destination for moving the rings.
For moving n disks from post A to post C:
1. First, transfer n-1 disks from post A to post B. The number of moves will be the same as those needed to transfer n-1 disks from post A to post C. Call this
number M[n-1] moves.
2. Next, transfer the remaining 1 disk from post A to post C [1 move].
3. Finally, transfer the remaining n-1 disks from post B to post C. [Again, the number of moves will be the same as those needed to transfer n-1 disks from
post A to post C, or M[n-1] moves.]
Therefore the number of moves needed to transfer n disks from post A to post C is 2M[n-1]+1,
M[n] = 2M[n-1] + 1
On solving this recursion with base cases ( M[1] = 1; M [2] = 3) we get M[n] = 2^n 1
M[8] = 255

3. A very large number, N, of people arrive at a convention. There are exactly N single rooms in the hotel where the convention takes
place. Each guest is given a numbered key for a specific room. Before they even go upstairs, they are all invited to a large party in the
banquet hall. To gain admittance to the hall, they have to give up their keys to the doorman. At the end of the evening, the guests are not
sober enough to recall their room numbers, so the doorman simply hands out the keys randomly. What is the probability that at least
one guest ends up in the room to which he or she was originally assigned?
Solution :
Will be updated.

Puzzle Set 8
1. A family wants to get through a tunnel. Dad can make it in 1 minute, mama in 2 minutes, and son in 4 and daughter in 5 minutes.
Unfortunately, not more than two persons can go through the narrow tunnel at one time, moving at the speed of the slower one. Can
they all make it to the other side if they have a torch that lasts only 12 minutes and they are afraid of the dark?
Solution :
First mom and dad 2 minutes. Dad comes back 3 minutes, both children go to mom 8 minutes. Mom comes to dad 10 minutes and they both get to
their children 12 minutes.

2. Two players alternatively erase one number from the sequence 1, 2, ... , 27 until only two numbers remain. The first player wins if the
sum of these numbers is divisible by 5; otherwise the second player wins. Who has a winning strategy?
Solution :
The first player A has a winning strategy. The state of the game at any time can be described by a sequence x2, x1, x0.x1, x2 where xj is the number of
integers remaining that are equal to j mod 5. If A can arrange things so that the other player B faces a position where xj = xj for j = 1, 2 and x0 is even then
player A will win. Call such a position a balanced position. If B takes a number which is k mod 5 then in the next round A will take a number which is k mod
5 and once again there will be a balanced position. At the end, when there are 2 numbers left and they form a balanced position, A will have won.
A begins by taking number 1. After this we almost have a balanced position, except that there is an extra 0 and 2. A plays as if in a balanced position up until
B first takes a 0 or 2, in which case A will respond by taking the other choice. After this it will be a balanced position.
3. The restrooms on the 7th floor of Wean hall have just been renovated. Unfortunately, the contractors omitted to label the doors with
Men/Women. A visitor to the Mathematical Sciences Department arrives outside the rest-rooms and does not wish to go in the wrong
door. Standing outside the door are the famous Crane triplets: Ampule, Botule and Corpule. These guys are identical. Their own
mother cannot tell them apart. It is well-known in the academic world that Ampule is a good person and always tells the truth, Botule is
a mean person and always lies. Corpule is confused and half the time he tells the truth and the other half of the time, he lies. Our visitor
knows that he is allowed two questions. What should they be? (Note that a question will be directed to one triplet who will answer it in
his own way.)
Solution :
Denition: "Consistent" means someone who always tells the truth OR always tells a lie.
Observation: When you ask a consistent person "If I asked you binary question X, what would you answer?", their answer to this question will always be a
correct answer to question X, thus turning a liar into a truth teller.
So, here are the two questions:
Question 1, to one of the triplets (and pointing to another one): "If I asked you if this brother is Consistent, what would you answer?". If the answer is YES,
ask Question 2 of the person previously pointed to. Otherwise, ask Question 2 of the third brother. Question 2: "If I asked you if this (pointing to one of the
bathrooms) is the Men's bathroom, what would you answer?". If the answer is YES, the bathroom pointed to is the men's bathroom, otherwise, it's otherwise.
Explanation: if the rest brother being asked is consistent, then the second brother being asked is also consistent. If the

Puzzle Set 9
1. You are given 81 coins and are told that one of the coins is lighter than the rest. You are also given a pair of balance scales. What
strategy will you choose to find out the odd coin in which the balance is used for the minimum number of times?
Solution :
This problem can be generalized. 3^n coins can be handled in n weighings by the following method:
a) Place 3^(n-1) coins on each side of the balance and determine which group of 3^(n-1) coins contains the light coin.
b) Having determined which group of 3^(n-1) contains the light coin, subdivide it into three equal 3^(n-2) groups of each and place one of these on each side
and thereby determine which group of 3^(n-2) contains the light coin.
c) By continuing this process the size of the group can be reduced by two-thirds at each successive weighing. Therefore n weighings will be able to handle 3^n
coins.
For 81 coins, we need 4 weighings.

2. A and B are playing a game. 100 numbers are listed one after the other horizontally on a piece of paper.
A plays first and is given the choice of picking one of the numbers from either end. On his turn B is given the choice of picking one of
the numbers from either end of the remaining numbers.
The process continues till all the numbers are exhausted. A and B independently sum up the numbers they have chosen and the person
with the larger sum is declared as the winner.
What strategy should A use (given that he plays first) so that he never loses?
Solution :
Add all numbers in even positions and add all in odd positions. Whichever is higher pick from that end. (If odd positions give a higher sum, pick the number
in 1st position. Opponent will pick from either the 2nd or 100th positions, You can pick from 3rd or 99th position and so on. You will end up winning.
Similarly if even positions give a higher sum, pick the number in 100th position)
3. Imagine the GS markets interview that consists of six interviewees sitting side by side along one side of a table, with you, the
candidate, at one end. When the interviewer says go! everyone at the table begins a conversation with the person either to the left or
to the right. Assuming that, on the command, people (except the ones at the ends, who have no choice) turn to either their right or their
left at random, and assuming that those who find a partner at once in this way stick with that partner, and assuming that those who
dont find a partner at once will behave rationally, doing their best to pair off with someone to their left or right, what is the probability
that you will find yourself with no one to talk to?
Solution :
2 important things to be kept in mind: initially, the middle 5 interviewees behave randomly, and later they behave rationally.
Initially, after the word 'go', there are 2^5 = 32 possibilites some of which are as follows:
RRRRRRL
RRLRRRL
RRLLLRL
RRRRRLL
Note that candidates at extreme left and right always turn right and left respectively. So the sequence of the middle 5 are as follows:
RRRRR
RLRRR
RLLLR
RRRRL
and so on.
16 of these 32 possibilities begin with L. In these cases, you strike up a conversation with B.
Of the remaining 16, 8 begin with RL. In these cases, B strikes up a conversation with C. You are left out.
The remaining 8 are as follows:
RRRRR
RRRRL
RRRLR
RRRLL
RRLRR
RRLRL
RRLLR
RRLLL
Of these 8, the 2 that begin with RRRL, D & E start conversation. B has a choice to either talk to A or C. We can assume that it is equally likely that B talks to
A or C. So in 1 of these 2 cases, A would be left out.
In all the other cases, B would act rationally and turn to you.
Hence, probability that you would find yourself with no one to talk to = (8 + 1) / 32 = 9/32

4. You are in a game show. There are three doors. You know that there is a prize behind one of them, and nothing behind the other two.
The game show host tells you that you shall receive whatever is behind the door of your choice. After you make the choice, the host
opens one of the other two doors to reveal that it is empty. He will then give you the option to switch your choice. e.g. You choose Door
3. He opens Door 2 and reveals that it is empty. You now know that the prize lies behind either Door 3 or Door 1. Should you switch
your choice to Door 1? Assume that the host knows what lies behind each of the doors.

Would your answer change if we assume that the host has no clue of what lies behind each door?
Solution :
You might have solved this problem before using conditional probability.
Let us look at an elegant solution.
Suppose you repeat the experiment for a large number of times, say 999.
333 of the times you would choose a door behind which there is a prize. In each of these 333 times, if you choose to switch after the game show host opens
one of the other two doors to reveal that it is empty, you would win nothing.
666 of the times you would choose a door behind which there is nothing. In each of these 666 times, if you choose to switch after the game show host opens
one of the other two doors to reveal that it is empty, you would win the prize.
So, 666 of the times, it makes sense to switch.
This suggests that the chance to win the prize is greater if you switch.
However, this will only work out if the host knows what lies behind each of the doors and accordingly opens one empty door out of the remaining two doors.
If he is unaware of what lies behind each other, then the choice to open one of the remaining two doors is random. So in this case, it does not matter if you
switch or not.

Puzzle Set 10
1. A bad king has a cellar of 1000 bottles of delightful and very expensive wine. A neighbouring queen plots to kill the bad king and
sends a servant to poison the wine. (un)Fortunately the bad kings guards catch the servant after he has only poisoned one bottle. Alas,
the guards dont know which bottle but know that the poison is so strong that even if diluted 1,000,000 times it would still kill the king.
Furthermore, it takes one month to have an effect. The bad king decides he will get some of the prisoners in his vast dungeons to drink
the wine. Being a clever bad king he knows he needs to murder no more than 10 prisoners - believing he can fob off such a low death
rate - and will still be able to drink the rest of the wine at his anniversary party in 5 weeks time.
Solution :
Label the wine bottles from 1 to 1000. Each of the bottle number can be represented by a binary 10 bit number (since the maximum that can be represented
by 10 bits is 2 power 10 = 1024).
Mark each of prisoners from 1 to 10.
Do the following for each of the bottles 1 to 1000:
Step 1: Take note of the bottle number
Step 2: In binary format check which bits are set to 1 and make those particular numbered persons drink that bottle
Example: 6 = 00 0000 0110
So person numbered 2 and 3 will drink the bottle.
After the above 2 steps are performed line the prisoners up in their bit order and read each living prisoner as a 0 bit and each dead prisoner as a 1 bit. The
number that you get is the bottle of wine that was poisoned.
Example: Say number 4 and number 6 prisoners are dead which is equivalent to the following binary: 0000101000 which is 40 in decimal. Bottle numbered
40 is the poisoned bottle.
Additional question: To increase your chance of living, which prisoner would you want to be? If there were 1023 bottles, it wouldn't matter since everyone
would have to take 512 sips. But there are 23 bottles less, so the people whose bits would have been on from 1001 to 1023 won't have to take a sip. 1001 is
[11111 01001] in binary and 1023 is [11111 11111]. The most five significant bits are the most interesting because they would always be on from 1001 to 1023, so
all those people are missing out on 23 bottles of wine that they otherwise would have had to drink. So in order to increase your chance of living, you'd
probably want to be prisoner 6 to 10. (But depending on how the king determines who is least significant and who is most significant you could get shafted.)

2. A mad bomber is out on the job, making bombs. He has two fuses (pieces ofstring) of varying thickness which each burn for 30
seconds. Unfortunately he wants this bomb to go off in 45 seconds. He cant cut the one fuse in half because the fuses are of different
thicknesses and he cant be sure how long it will burn. How can he arrange the fuses to make his bomb go off at the right time?
Solution :
Light both ends of one of the fuses. when that fuse goes out, 15 seconds has elapsed. Then light the other fuse.
3. A woman wants to buy a painting at an auction where you bid grams of gold instead of money. She owns a gold chain made of 23
interlocking loops, each weighing 1 gram. She wants to go to a jeweller before the auction to cut the minimum number of loops that
would allow her to pay any sum from 1 to 23. For example, she could pay a 13 gram price with a 12 link chain and a single link. After
much thought, she figures out a way to do it by cutting just 2 of the loops in the chain. How many loops are in the pieces of chains that
she has after the 2 cuts?
Solution :
Cut the 4th and 11th loops from the gold chain which will give us 4 chains with following number of rings 3, 1, 6, 1, 12. Using these 4 chains the woman can
weigh from 1 to 23 grams.

Puzzle Set 11
1.One fine morning, a worker of a clock-tower in a village A founds that the battery of the clock had died down during the last-night.
He has a new battery to start the clock but doesn't know the correct time to set in the clock.
The nearest availability of correct time is only at the clock-tower in a nearby village B (i.e. no other clocks in the village). There is no
means of communication with other village and to know the current time, this worker will have to travel to village B. Only issue is the
worker of clock-tower of village B is this person's brother and if he goes there he will have to stay there for at least some time (say over
a meal).
What strategy will this person put to set his clock at correct time by a single visit to village B and using only the time from the clocktower in Village B. Assume that time of travel to and fro is same between A and B.
Solution :
Trick is for worker to start running clock A (at some random time) and leave for Village B.
After reaching Village B, using time of clock B, he can find his total stay at his brother's place ( say time Y minutes)
Also he notes the time at which he leave Village B (Say HH:MM:SS)
Coming back to Village A, he can find the difference between his starting time from A and coming back time to A (say this is X minutes).
So time for travel each side is = (X-Y)/2.
So the current time is HH:MM:SS + (X-Y)/2 minutes.

2. A gambler goes to bet. The dealer has 3 dice, which are fair, meaning that the chance that each face shows up is exactly 1/6.
The dealer says: "You can choose your bet on a number, any number from 1 to 6. Then I'll roll the 3 dice. If none show the number you
bet, you'll lose $1. If one shows the number you bet, you'll win $1. If two or three dice show the number you bet, you'll win $3 or $5,
respectively."
Is it a fair game?
Solution :
It's a fair game. If there are 6 gamblers, each of whom bet on a different number, the dealer will neither win nor lose on each deal.
If he rolls 3 different numbers, e.g. 1, 2, 3, the three gamblers who bet 1, 2, 3 each wins $1 while the three gamblers who bet 4, 5, 6 each loses $1.
If two of the dice he rolls show the same number, e.g. 1, 1, 2, the gambler who bet 1 wins $3, the gambler who bet 2 wins $1, and the other 4 gamblers each
loses $1.
If all 3 dice show the same number, e.g. 1, 1, 1, the gambler who bet 1 wins $5, and the other 5 gamblers each loses $1.
In each case, the dealer neither wins nor loses. Hence it's a fair game.

3. A professor by-mistake forgot to write the multiplication sign between 2 three-digit numbers (So he wrote a six-digit number on the
board).
He asks his students to find the initial 2 three-digit numbers but gave a hint that the written six-digit number interestingly was seventimes bigger than the actual product of those 3-digit numbers.
Help students in finding the initial three-digit numbers.
Solution :
Suppose the numbers are x, y such that 100<x,y<999.
Now 7xy = 1000x + y (1)
or 7y = 1000 + (y/x) (2)
Since 100 < x,y < 999,
=> 0 < y/x < 10
By substituting in equation 2
=> 1000 < 7y < 1010
=> y = 143 or y = 144
Substitute y value in equation 1 to get corresponding x value
If y = 144 => x = 18: which is not a solution as X should be a 3-digit number
If y = 143 => x = 143
Therefore the initial 3 digit numbers are 143 and 143.