The worlds first riddle!

o, btw, rap's right, half of 1 metre squared is twice that of 1 half metre squared, and your age is 49

Nick who? I wish I had such a burden.

This one failed to attract an answer first time around. Possibly not as obvious as it first looks:

A co-worker has two children. One of them is a boy. What is the probability that the other one is a boy

uhhhh...2 children, one is a boy....the probability of the second one being a boy: 50% chance, since neither testacles nor a uterus have memory...

hey, when did mark leave?

Mark headed south down Mexico way for a few days, in search for Santa, or, was it master of chutzpah: The unsinkable ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA. I forget which.

As for your "50%" - tomorrow I'm gonna disagree with you. :wink:

OK! Let's rumble -

Most people think this is the same as:

A man has a child, and it's a boy. He then has another child. What is the probability that the second one is a boy too?

The answer to that is 1 in 2, or 50%. It's like saying: if I toss a coin and it comes down heads, what are the odds that it will come down heads next time?

However, this problem is quite different. This is why:
If a man has two children, he could have had:

first a boy, then a girl - BG
first a boy, then another boy - BB
first a girl, then a boy - GB
first a girl, then another girl - GG

These are the only possible ways in which a man can have had 2 children, and they are all equally probable. The probability of each is therefore 1 in 4, or 25%.

Now let's come back to the problem. We know that at least one of the children is a boy. That cuts out just one of the 4 possibilities listed above - GG - leaving 3 possibilities: BG, GB, BB (each of which, as we've seen, is equally likely). Of those 3, only one - BB - satisfies the condition that the other child is a boy as well. So the answer is 1 in 3, or 33.3% (.3 recurring to be precise).

Quite a lot of people refuse to believe this because they think that if a man has two children, he can have two boys, two girls or one of each, ie., three possibilities, each equally likely. But, they're not equally likely, because 'one of each' is not one possibility, but two.
Think of all the people you know with 2 children, and you'll find that roughly a quarter of them have two boys, a quarter have two girls, and half of them have one of each.

What! - What!


Rap:

xxiv) A half a square metre is twice the area of a half metre square.
xxv) 49

Nick (back from vacation, and when I say ?'vacation' read; 'the slammer') agrees.


I am thinking of spending Christmas in Aspen and will be outta here for a while.

May I wish one and all a very happy and safe Christmas.

In the meantime, for anyone who wants to wile away a few minutes:
(Perhaps, Rap or Nick could stand in and confirm any answers)





NOPETS CHRISTMAS QUIZ:


1. The area of a circle 6 meters in diameter exceeds the combined areas of a circle 4 meters in diameter and a circle 2 meters in diameter by how many square meters



2. If @ is defined for all positive numbers a and b by a @ b = 2ab - b2, then
5 @ 2 =



3. Telephone calls cost 20 cents per minute for the first 15 minutes and 10 cents per minute thereafter. Which of the following represents the amount of money needed (in dollars) to talk x minutes (x greater than 15)

$3.00 + $0.10x
$3.00 + $0.10(x-15)
$3.00 + $0.10(15-x)
$3.00 + $0.15x



4. What is the total amount of your purchases if you bought 5 shirts at $m and 2 more shirts at 50% off.
$5m
$6m
$7.5m
$10m



5. If a small cube (side=2) is filled twice and poured into a larger cube (side=4), what will be the height, in inches, of the water in the larger cube



6. Which of the following equations gives the relationship between S and T in the table below

S 1 2 3 4 5 6
T 1 4 7 10 13 16

T = 2 - S
T = 4 - 3S.
T = 3S + 1.
T = 3S - 2.




7. Which of the following proportions is correct if 12 = pq

2:p = 6:q
4:p = 3:q
6:p = 2:q
4:q = p:3




8. A car travels across Texas m miles at the rate of t miles per hour. How many hours does the trip take



9. What is the value of (x + y)(x + y) if xy = -3 and x2 + y2 = 10



10. The vertices of rectangle ABCD are A(-1,0), B(2,0), C(s, t), and D(-1,4). How long is diagonal AC



See ya

They're getting easier

[size=7]1) 4pi m^2 2) 2^4 3) $3+.1(x-15) 4) $6m 5) if the box dimension are in inches 1/2 inch 6) T=3S-2 7) All of them 8) Not enough information. You need to know if the speedo was calibrated for Texas. Everyone knows that everything is bigger inb Texas, even the mile. But I happen to know that even in Texas a 6 pack safely lasts the driver about 200 miles (5280 ft miles). 9) 5[/size]

Rap

Rap, "They're getting easier"

My dear Rap, they are only ?'easy' if, and only if, you know the answer.


Challenge this:

A very expensive art gallery on the ground floor of the A2K towers building features a modern work of 'moving art'. The artist stands by a stack of paintings, each featuring a different number. One of the paintings is displayed on the wall. At certain times the artist removes the painting from the wall and replaces it with a painting from the stack. At 11am, the artist hangs a painting of the number 30. At 4pm he hangs a painting of number 240. At 7.30pm he hangs a painting of number 315.

What painting does the artist hang at 9.20pm

rap's right about ur holiday shiznack and what not, as for your newest problem, tryagain, there could be many answers...

"shiznack"

Complaints, always you are making with the complaints already.
Remember we have visitors from Australia and Nu joisey to consider.

"there could be many answers..."
Quite so, however, only one is correct.

I think you are not the person you think I think you are. I think.

Nick's conundrums ( geniuses only need apply )


In America we make use of ZIP (Zoning Improvement Plan) codes to help direct mail. Each city/town makes use of a 5-digit code (we shall ignore ZIP+4 codes); for example, Hillsgrove, Pennslyvania, is 18619.

However, due to rotational symmetry certain codes, like the one used for Hillsgrove are detour-prone, as they could be read as a different code upside down. As a result, 61981 (Hillsgrove's ZIP code read upside down) is not used.

How many 5-digit ZIP codes are detour-prone



Two dice have each face colored either red or blue. The first die has five red faces and one blue face.

The two dice are rolled.

How many faces on the second die need be red so that there is an equal chance of getting two faces of the same color




Many thanks to Al Keppel for the use of his laptop.

well, the genius comment officially rules me out, im NO genius, im just a 16 y/o chess dork

Nick, you may be older than me, but this is a dork friendly thread. Chess really rocks.



The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves for both players in a game of chess is


How many different possible moves can be made in the first ten moves by each player




Let me check your age:



1. First of all, pick the number of times a day that you would like to have chocolate, or play chess. (more than once but less than 10)


2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)


3. Add 5


4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator ....



5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1755 .... If you haven't, add 1754.


6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.


You should have a three digit number .


The first digit of this was the original number you chose.

The next two numbers are .... YOUR AGE! Oh YES, it is


Happy Crimbo.






What is one-half of two-thirds of three-quarters of four-fifths of five-sixths of six-sevenths of seven-eights of eight-ninths of nine-tenths of one hundred

I drove my car over to see Gus. I managed 1 mile at 15 miles per hour. Slow but steady becaause I had a few drinks. (Driving under the infulance is ill eagle) How fast must I drive a second mile in order to average 30 miles per hour over the full two miles



A train goes between Springfield and New York.

The brakeman, the fireman and the engineer are named Smith, Jones and Brown. (The names are not necessarily in order). There are also three passengers named Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones and Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown lives in New York. The brakeman lives halfway between New York and Springfield. Mr. Jones earns exactly $20,000 per year. Smith beat the fireman at their last game of golf. The passenger who lives in Springfield has the same name as the brakeman. The brakeman's next door neighbor is a passenger on this train and earns exactly three times as much as the brakeman.

What is the name of the engineer

The oldest riddle is Samson's (or Simson's), isn't it?

1. 10
2. 45
3. i could figure it out but i had a LOONG day...BUT if you give me another day or so and i'll have it

Hi Krekel, and welcome to the riddle forum. Your name is double Dutch to me, do you play cricket?

Samson offered two cloaks to every one if they could solve the riddle. I on the other hand can only offer:

"Those who know do not speak, those who speak, do not know" :wink:


Nick wrote:
1. 10
2. 45


I am sorry buddy, I know not of what you speak.




A 30 year old man married a 25 year old woman. She died at age 50 and her husband was so devastated that he cried for years. Ten years after he stopped crying, he died. If he had lived to be 80.

How many years was he a widower



How many different squares are located on a chess-board

widower- 25 years. Am i missing something here?
chess board- 2

merry merry TA

Got back a little over an hour ago. Obviously, I have some catching up to do.

"xx. What two numbers, which when added together produce the same answer as when they are multiplied together?"

There are an infinite number of solutions (you didn't require the numbers to be integers). Pick the first number (a) and solve (a+b = ab) for the second (b). Don't pick the number one.

Seasons Greetings and merry berry to you and yours DP:

widower- 25 years. Am i missing something here? (NO..!)

(It's here it goes to rats ) chess board- 2


Mark, it's good to see you back. I hope you and your family had a most enjoyable time.

Have mercy on me, I've been beaten up real good by criticism going on about how easy it is becoming. So I say…consider this!



Rap and Mark have a dilemma. They need to get back to town as quickly as possible, but they only have one bicycle between them. And, of course, you can travel faster on the bike than you can by walking.

Rap says, "We'll leave at the same time. You start walking, and I'll ride the bike for a mile. Then I'll leave it by the side of the road, while you keep walking. When you get to the bike, you get on it, and you ride for a mile, and then you leave it by the side of the road. When I get to it, I'll ride another mile. We'll keep leapfrogging like this until we get to town.
"Since we'll be riding part of the way and walking part of the way, each of us will have a higher average speed than if we walked, so we'll get there faster," Rap explains.

Mark says, "That isn't going to do any good, you dope! Think about it. Between the two of us, one or the other is going to walk every inch of the way from here to town. So, we can't possibly get there any faster than if we just walked all the way and didn't use the bike at all."

Who is right

Rap, who thinks they will get there faster or Mark, who thinks it does not make a difference.

Alternatively, are they both wrong
Am I wrong
Do two wrongs make a right……………………

Skipping to most recent...
[size=7]RAP & MARK
Rap is correct. Although every inch will be walked, the bike allows them to walk separate portions of the journey at the same time.[/size]