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Mohsin
02-03-2007, 09:02 PM
Salam

A good friend passed on this puzzle to me, if anyone knows of any more please give me a link

Two men meet on the street. They haven’t seen each other for many years. They talk about various things, and then after some time one of them says: "since you're a professor in mathematics, I’d like to give you a problem to solve. You know, today's a very special day for me: all three of my sons celebrate their birthday this very day!
so, can you tell me how old each of them is?"
"sure answers the mathematician. "but you'll have to tell me something about them"
"ok, ill give you some hints", replied the father of the three sons, "the product of the ages of my sons is 36".
"That’s fine says the mathematician, "but I’ll need more than just that".
"the sum of their ages is equal to the number of windows in that building". says the father pointing to the structure next to them. The mathematician thinks for some time and replies, "still I need an additional hint to solve your puzzle".
" my oldest son has blue eyes", says the other man.
"oh, this is sufficient!" exclaims the mathematician, and he gives the father the correct answer:

How old is each son?


And trust me, there is enough information there for you to work the answer out!
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tomtomsmom
02-03-2007, 09:12 PM
twins-3 years old
and a 4 year old
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Skillganon
02-03-2007, 09:17 PM
1, 2 and 18
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Maarya
02-03-2007, 09:21 PM
triplets, age 12?
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Mohsin
02-03-2007, 09:49 PM
nope none of the answers are right so far. Think guys. He could see the number of windows, yet he needed more info, why??
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seeker_of_ilm
02-03-2007, 10:02 PM
:sl:

I'm probably wrong here, but I think its 9, 2, 2 ?

:w:
Reply

tomtomsmom
02-03-2007, 11:28 PM
He has 2 that are 6
the other one isn't really his!!!!!!
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Mohsin
02-04-2007, 12:26 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by seeker_of_ilm
:sl:

I'm probably wrong here, but I think its 9, 2, 2 ?

:w:
Masha'allah correct

Ok the first clue was the product of his sons ages were 36

Thus there are 8 possibilities

1,1,36

1,2,18

1,3,12

1,4,9

1,6,6

2,2,9

2,3,6

3,3,4

Ok now since there are 8 different possibilities, he cant possibly know

So then the 2nd clue is the sum of their ages is equal to the number of the windows in that building, so of those numbers above, the piossible sums are;

1,1,36= 38

1,2,18= 21

1,3,12= 16

1,4,9= 14

1,6,6= 13

2,2,9= 13

2,3,6= 11

3,3,4= 10

Now he can clearly see the windows right, so he should be able to work out by looking at the number of windows as to what the ages are, but yet he still asks for a third clue. Why? The only explanation for this can be there must be 13 windows in the building, which means there are two possible combinations of how 13 can be made, and 36 can be made, so he asks for one final clue, which is the oldest son has blue eyes, the only possible answer for this of course is 2,2and 9 :)
Reply

Al-Hanbali
02-04-2007, 12:32 PM
:sl:

Masha'ALLAH (SWT).....you got anymore bro? :)
Reply

Mohsin
02-04-2007, 12:48 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Dhul-Fiqhar
:sl:

Masha'ALLAH (SWT).....you got anymore bro? :)
I was hoping somebody else could put some up. Ok I know of a couple of realy old classic ones that you may have heard of before


There are 3 guys in jail.

They are all 20 year old maths geniuses, but ended up taking a criminal route in life and thus end up where they are. They all have 10 years to serve in prison.

Ok the judge wants to test out the maths levels of these guys, so he devises a little test.

He lines the three of them up, one behind the other

The person at the front can not see the person behind him. The person in the middle can see the person infront of him, but can not see the person behind him, and finally the 3rd person can see both of the people in front of him.

Ok the judge then shows them a box. In the box there are 5 hats:- 3 red hats, and 2 blue hats

The 3 people in jail are cuffed and blind folded, and a hat is placed on each persons head. All 3 end up wearing 3 red hats.

The blind folds are taken off, but they remained cuffed up, and are not allowed to ask anyone what they are wearing

The judge then tells them if they are able to work out which hat they are wearing, then they will be allowed to be let out of jail free. If they guess and get it wrong they face the death penalty, and if they dont say anything then they simply serve out their 10 year sentence

So the question is, who walks out? All 3 of them are wearing red hats. None of them know what they themselves are wearing. person 1, is at the front of the line and can not see anybody, person 2 behind him can see person 1 is wearing a red hat, but that doesnt give him any idea as to what he himself is wearing, and finally person 3 can see both people in front of him wearing a red hat, but knows that in the box there were 3 red hats and 2 blue hats, and he could be wearing a blue hat or a red hat.

So who walks?

Also, as I mentioned, it is quite old, so if you have heard it please give other bros and sisters a chance

Wsalam
Reply

Pk_#2
02-04-2007, 02:38 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by Mohsin
Masha'allah correct

Ok the first clue was the product of his sons ages were 36

Thus there are 8 possibilities

1,1,36

1,2,18

1,3,12

1,4,9

1,6,6

2,2,9

2,3,6

3,3,4

Ok now since there are 8 different possibilities, he cant possibly know

So then the 2nd clue is the sum of their ages is equal to the number of the windows in that building, so of those numbers above, the piossible sums are;

1,1,36= 38

1,2,18= 21

1,3,12= 16

1,4,9= 14

1,6,6= 13

2,2,9= 13

2,3,6= 11

3,3,4= 10

Now he can clearly see the windows right, so he should be able to work out by looking at the number of windows as to what the ages are, but yet he still asks for a third clue. Why? The only explanation for this can be there must be 13 windows in the building, which means there are two possible combinations of how 13 can be made, and 36 can be made, so he asks for one final clue, which is the oldest son has blue eyes, the only possible answer for this of course is 2,2and 9 :)
MashaAllah

braaavoo!! LOL

i never could have guessed that bro :)
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Count DeSheep
02-07-2007, 02:14 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by seeker_of_ilm
:sl:

I'm probably wrong here, but I think its 9, 2, 2 ?

:w:
Mesa-mesa hatesa yousa-yousa and your speed...I gots those numbuhs too, but I wasn't online 3 days ago...>.<

Gosh...That second one...Ooo...

Me thinks that the 10 year sentence for the 20-year-olds is a clue, since the 3rd guy in line knows that there is 1 red hat and 2 blue hats...1:2, but me no-no get it...Err...

I'll say 1 and 2 walk, but three gets OONT death penalty. Jah, I knows me am be are is probably wrongs, buts mes nos cares. XP

Me gots goods gramerz. XD
Reply

Mohsin
02-07-2007, 09:40 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by Count DeSheep
Mesa-mesa hatesa yousa-yousa and your speed...I gots those numbuhs too, but I wasn't online 3 days ago...>.<

Gosh...That second one...Ooo...

Me thinks that the 10 year sentence for the 20-year-olds is a clue, since the 3rd guy in line knows that there is 1 red hat and 2 blue hats...1:2, but me no-no get it...Err...

I'll say 1 and 2 walk, but three gets OONT death penalty. Jah, I knows me am be are is probably wrongs, buts mes nos cares. XP

Me gots goods gramerz. XD
Nope, not even close.

The death sentence has nothing to do with it, its all about the hats!!
Reply

Mohsin
02-14-2007, 11:10 PM
any more guesses, I'll give it to next Tuesday insha'allah and then give the answer
Reply

Pk_#2
02-14-2007, 11:38 PM
The last geezah tells de ova two dey have red hats on,

so they say it and dey go free

and he finks mb its third time lucky ;)

And he says he got a red hat too

hence dey are all let go

Hmm...

Just a guess AsalamuAlaykum lol
Reply

Mohsin
02-15-2007, 10:53 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by tasmiyah_B
The last geezah tells de ova two dey have red hats on,

so they say it and dey go free

and he finks mb its third time lucky ;)

And he says he got a red hat too

hence dey are all let go

Hmm...

Just a guess AsalamuAlaykum lol
no he cant do that. he has nothing to gain from that, and if i was the judge i would execute him for foul play, so he wouldnt do that!

I'll start giving hints, if the first two people both had blue hats, then the third guy would have realised, since there are no blue hats left in the box, i must have a red hat. Howevere, he doesnt do this so the guy at the front knows he and the person behind him BOTH dont have blue hats. (One of them may or may not have it, but both of them dont,as the guy at tne end would have said I have a red one)

Insha'allah using this line of thought, it should be come easier
Reply

RaihanBD
02-22-2007, 04:28 AM
Ok I've got another one:

A guy hired a maid for 1 month and told her that she could leave any day she wanted to if she wasn't comfortable working for him and that she would be paid $1/ day but NOT IN CASH. The employer had some gold rings and each of them had a different value. The maid would be paid with those gold rings. So, how many gold rings are there and what are there values?

REMEMBER: If she leaves on the 10th day of the month she must be paid $10 with the rings ONLY.
Reply

khushnood
02-22-2007, 06:26 AM
salam!these puzzles r simply brilliant.i shall ask my father about the second one.he,s a maths genius.maybe,he can get it right.
Reply

Samira_01
02-22-2007, 03:18 PM
i dunt no if im right but i fink its 1 ring $1
Reply

RaihanBD
02-22-2007, 05:34 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by zAk
5 rings of worth $1,2,4,8 & 16.
Hey I think Zak knew dis 1 already! LOL Ur right btw.
Reply

Mohsin
02-23-2007, 09:01 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by Mohsin
I was hoping somebody else could put some up. Ok I know of a couple of realy old classic ones that you may have heard of before


There are 3 guys in jail.

They are all 20 year old maths geniuses, but ended up taking a criminal route in life and thus end up where they are. They all have 10 years to serve in prison.

Ok the judge wants to test out the maths levels of these guys, so he devises a little test.

He lines the three of them up, one behind the other

The person at the front can not see the person behind him. The person in the middle can see the person infront of him, but can not see the person behind him, and finally the 3rd person can see both of the people in front of him.

Ok the judge then shows them a box. In the box there are 5 hats:- 3 red hats, and 2 blue hats

The 3 people in jail are cuffed and blind folded, and a hat is placed on each persons head. All 3 end up wearing 3 red hats.

The blind folds are taken off, but they remained cuffed up, and are not allowed to ask anyone what they are wearing

The judge then tells them if they are able to work out which hat they are wearing, then they will be allowed to be let out of jail free. If they guess and get it wrong they face the death penalty, and if they dont say anything then they simply serve out their 10 year sentence

So the question is, who walks out? All 3 of them are wearing red hats. None of them know what they themselves are wearing. person 1, is at the front of the line and can not see anybody, person 2 behind him can see person 1 is wearing a red hat, but that doesnt give him any idea as to what he himself is wearing, and finally person 3 can see both people in front of him wearing a red hat, but knows that in the box there were 3 red hats and 2 blue hats, and he could be wearing a blue hat or a red hat.

So who walks?

Also, as I mentioned, it is quite old, so if you have heard it please give other bros and sisters a chance

Wsalam
Since nobody is gong to guess this, I an going to give the answer, and its entirely logical. The answer is the first guy walks, even though he cant see anything, this is why;

Ok all 3 of them are wearing red hats yeah, they just dont know what they themselves are wearing.

The guy at the back of the 3 can see the two people in front of him, and he can see that they are both wearing red hats. That doesn't help him much, as there is still a chance that he could be wearing a red hat or a blue hat.

But the key here is the guy at the front knows that the two guys at the front both can not have blue hats on, because if the guy at the front and the guy in the middle both had blue hats on, the maths genius at the back weould have realised that the only hat he could be wearing is red since there were only 2 blue hats in the original box.

However since he stays silent, the guy in the middle and at the front both know they both cant be wearing blue. I hope this is clear so far

Ok, next, how does the guy at the front realise then?Basically its an elimanation process. He thinks "IF I was wearing a blue hat, then the guy in the middle should be walking out, or the guy at the end should be walking out. This is because if I had a blue hat on, and in the middle guys case he also had a blue hat on, the guy at the back would have said something and walked. But If I have a blue hat on, and the guy in the middle doesnt, and the guy at the back can see all of this, then the guy in the middle should realise "the guy at the front has a blue hat, If I had a blue hat the guy at the back should realise he has a red hat, but since he is staying quiet it means I must have a red hat" However he also stays quiet, which must mean the only other possibility left is I am wearing a red hat!"

Hope tahst clear to you guys, I cant think of an easier way to explain it

:w:
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khushnood
03-01-2007, 06:25 AM
salam!i was getting impatient.well,it was a good one
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