Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays where you'll all be faced with a brain teaser to help get your brain moving! For those of you who remember @Buddyfox old "Monday Morning Braintease" will recognize that this is very similar with the added feature of being on Tuesday instead of Monday. I think we can all agree, this is a tremendous and long awaited improvement.
Question
You are given a balance scale and a set of 8 balls, where 7 balls are of equal weight, and the remaining ball is lighter than the other 7. Using only 2 measurements with the balance scale, how would you determine which ball is lighter than the other 7?
Bonus Question
There are two men in the desert, one of them is dead, and the other is alive. The dead man's pack is closed and the live man's pack is open. What was in their packs?
Good Luck!
Are we supposed to answer these? Or not spoil them?
Put 3 balls on each side of the scale. If it is even then you know the lighter one is one of the 2 not on the scale. You would then place the two on the scale and the lighter one would be apparent. If the 3 vs. 3 on the scale is uneven, then you know the lighter one is 1 of 3. you would then place 2 of those on the scale (1 on each side). If the scale is even, then the one left off is lighter, if not then the lighter one would be apparent.
For the balance scale one, I would take 6 balls and put 3 on each side. There will be 2 scenarios that result from this: Either they balance or they don't. If they do balance, then you can measure the 2 that aren't on the balance and find the lighter one. If they don't balance, you know that one of the 3 balls that were on the lighter side is the light ball.
you can then measure 2 of those 3 light side balls, and either they will balance or not. If they do balance, then you the one not measured is the light ball. If they don't balance, then the ball on the light end is the lighter ball.
Uhh for the two men in the desert, was the live one sticking his head in the pack to block out the sun?
^ beat me to it.
I like this though. Keep them coming
@nyy423 & @packmate - Good job on #1! However, I'm afraid @packmate answer for #2 is not correct.
Anyone figure out the bonus?
Also, good point on the spoilage issue in the comments, I'll work something out.
aha i googled the answer to #2, but i'll keep it to myself
Second question: parachute?
I had #1 in an interview once at a tech company and got it right instantly.
2 parachute packs, dead one didn't openSB because "A Gun" works! Didn't think of that one!
Good work!
Thanks for doing this! Thoroughly enjoy them, even if I was being facetious about #2.
@abacaxi & @yeahright good work on #2!
shit, I already messed up the teaser. I read TASER Tuesday and thought to myself "damn, someone knows how to start the week right!!!" before I realize it's teaser and not taser.
Tuesday Failed.
Hmmm, TASER Tuesday.... that has a nice ring to it.
The packs had canteens of urine. The live man drank his, and the dead man died of dehydration.
Good concept. Thx. +1
For the bonus question, another acceptable answer would've been: The Antidote.
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Officiis cumque aut molestiae ea ducimus dolorem. A incidunt est ipsa nisi. Aut aut est quam velit commodi aliquam.
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