The worlds first riddle!

Mark:

HERMIONE
I don't think it can be done without knowing where the dwarf and giant bottles are.

From the other clues, I narrowed it down to these possibilities:
B=back, F=forward, P=poison, W=wine

PWPFPWB
PWFPPWB
BPFPWPW
BPWFPPW
PPWFBPW
BPWPFPW
PPWBFPW
BPPWFPW

There are 21 different positions the dwarf and giant bottles can occupy. Four of those positions:
-XX----
-X-X---
--X--X-
---X-X-
lead to unique solutions.

-XX---- implies PWFPPWB
-X-X--- implies PWPFPWB
--X--X- implies PWFPPWB
---X-X- implies PWPFPWB

So, while Hermione knows which potion will take her back, Harry has a 50/50 chance of moving forward or being poisoned unless the positions of the dwarf and giant bottles are known.



Thoh:

I only have 6 possibilities...maybe im missing some...

PWPFPWB
PWFPPWB
BPWFPPW
BPWPFPW
BPPWFPW
BPFBWBW

she should drink the 7th bottle. if she gets sent back, its one of two choices. if nothing happens, its wine, and she should drink the first bottle. then its either of the remaining four. then harry should drink the 2nd bottle. oh wait....thats in the last book


I add another, to the two versions above.

In the novel, you are not presented with a picture of the bottles and Hermione's reasoning is not explained. For a complete analysis of this problem, see Roger Howe's article in the February 2002 issue of the Mathematics Teacher

(I have not been able to find this article, if anyone has better luck please post, as I am sure it will be most enlightening.)


Faced with the line-up of bottles, Hermione would have known from the third clue that neither the largest (giant), at position 2, nor the smallest (dwarf), at position 3, could be poison.

From the fourth clue, she would then know that the bottle in position 6, that is, second from right, also is not poison. The fourth clue says that bottles 2 and 6 are the same, so they must be nettle wine.

Thus, bottles 1 and 5 must be poison by the first clue.

Two positions, positions 4 and 7, then remain as possible locations for the third bottle of poison.

The second clue indicates that bottles 1 and 7 are different, so 7 is not poison and 4 must be.

Bottles 3 and 7 are then the elixirs of escape. Since the second clue says that the end bottle, bottle 7, will not help move onward, it must be the potion for returning.

Therefore, bottle 3 is the one to drink to continue the quest.

To recap:
Bottles 1, 4, and 5 are poison.
Bottles 2 and 6 are Nettle Wine.
Bottle 3 lets you move forward, and
bottle 7 lets you move back.

Unless you can prove otherwise!






Several years ago, Wendy's advertisement for their Super Bar stated that they had "something for everyone. With over 26,335 possible combinations you can create just the dinner you want at the Super Bar."

What is the number of items on the Super Bar that would produce at least 26,335 combinations

You may include just 1 item, any combination of 2 items, any combination of 3 items, up to the total number of items on the Super Bar.

Send big check to markr c/o A2K.


[size=8]WENDY'S
log2(26,335+1) = 14.7 (one was added to account for zero items)
Therefore, there would need to be at least 15 items in the super bar.[/[/size]color]

Mark:

WENDY'S
log2(26,335+1) = 14.7 (one was added to account for zero items)
Therefore, there would need to be at least 15 items in the super bar



For example, for three items on the salad bar,
there are 7 different combinations of 1, 2, or 3 items on the Super Bar.
If the three items are Bacon, Lettuce, and Cheese,
the seven combinations would include three combinations of 1 item
(1. Bacon, 2. Lettuce, and 3. Cheese), three combinations of 2 items
(4. Bacon & Lettuce, 5. Bacon & Cheese, 6. Lettuce & Cheese),
and one combination of all three items (7. Bacon, Lettuce, and Cheese).
For fourteen items on the salad bar, there are 16,383 different combinations of 1, 2, 3, 4, ... up to 14 items on the Super Bar.
For fifteen items, there are 32,767 combinations on the salad bar.
Certainly, Wendy's has more than 15 items on their Salad Bar!

Why did Wendy's use the number 26,335 in their advertisement?

Possibly they were counting 229 items, and just summed the numbers from 1 to 229, which is exactly 26335. But this is erroneous since it only counts one combination of each of those numbers.

Ps. The check is in the mail!!!





A certain Red Sox fan traveled from Winchester, Virginia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at a constant rate of 25 mph.

How fast must she travel on the return trip so that she averages 50 mph over the entire trip

(The distance from Harrisburg to Winchester is not relevant to the problem. You only need to know that the distance from Winchester to Harrisburg is the same as the distance from Harrisburg to Winchester.)



Sorry guy's, I have been called away to a god forsaken jungle where the pace of life is so s l o w, devoid of modern amenities, with hardly a burger bar in sight and where even basic amenities come at a terrible price. The natives are hostile to a Stetson and speak a language barely distinguishable as English. I am not saying it's Canada, but then again, it ain't a luxury cruise either. If the critters don't eat my horse, I will return soon!

Trip:

She would have to travel at a rate of 75 mph, which would probably lead to another speeding ticket

I feel like I answered this type of riddle ten times already.

she has to travel at infinate speed

avg = total distance / total time

assume distance is 25miles, so she madethe first leg in 1 hr.

solve for x: 50 = 50 / (1 + x)
x = 0 hrs so infinately fast

Markr
You kept the color of the car. I love it. Thank you. Yes, I send freezing greetings from Daytona. It is freezing here. I swear I did not bring it with me. Tryagain, you better have some problems for me when I return. You know working on a PC sucks. Just wanted to say Hi. I just found out this hotel has computers

Oh btw Tryagain,
I hope your skills are up to date because I plan on giving you a problem that will be hard for you to solve.

How fast will you have to answer it the next ten times to double your rate?

Are you laughing at me?

Oh well I guess I'd better stick to averaging grades from now on....something I know about.

Remember me? I will not let you forget. Weatherman now, huh? You forgot to tell me about the tornado warning. Ooh, I will bring it on, that is a challenge if I ever heard one. You are just too cute!!

Stormwatch,
They aren't laughing at you (I will tell you a secret- in order to laugh at you they have to be able to laugh at themself). You just cannot leave me here to deal with these egotistical mathematicians now can you? Otherwise do not leave me here with them alone (pleading emoticon). Us women have to stick together you know. Well the radio just went out and I can hear the thunder in the background. I have been officially banned from the internet until I get home so this is my last transmission.

Until then Tryagain, markr, thoh13 and Stormwatch take care okay?

hahaha.....i'd have to answer infinately fast

[size=8]BANANA

The peel weighs 7/8 ounce; so the banana weighs 7 ounces.[/size]

Stormy slowly wrote, "Are you laughing at me?"

No way sweetie, the problem was setup for the answer you gave, which was the answer I originally thought was correct! I was smiling at how inquisitive minds think the same. It was a chuckle at myself. If I only answered questions to which I knew the answer, I would never write anything. :wink:

TTH made a particularly thoughtful comment. Another may be to get the hell outta Florida!



Mark:

BANANA

The peel weighs 7/8 ounce; so the banana weighs 7 ounces.

It does indeed.



The Rando bridge and the Wood bridge are 1 mile apart. The A2K crew in alphabetical order; Mark, Stormy, Thoh and TTH start rowing upstream at the Wood bridge. As the crew passes under the Rando bridge, the coxswain's hat falls into the river.

Ten minutes later, the coxswain ( the name has been withheld to avoid embarrassment) notices and turns the boat around instantaneously and has the crew go back to get it, rowing at the same constant rate. By the time the team reaches the hat, they are back at the Wood bridge.

How fast is the river flowing

I'm too lazy to type up all the math but the rowing speed cancels out and the river flows at a rate of 264 ft/min.

Okay, I am not a coxswain, but I have many talents
The bridges are 1 mile apart. The hat is floating on the river I assume. It took 10 minutes to row upstream before the embarrassed one (that would be mark or thoh- he he both men) realized the hat was gone. They turn around, still have to row 10 minutes to get back to the hat = 20 minutes (the length it took the hat to float 1 mile back to the original bridge). Otherwise 20 minutes in 1 mile or 3 miles in an hour. If I am wrong do not tell my boating instructor or laugh. BTW I can also do charting just do not ask about celestial navigation!! No, I do not have a boat either. I am just a trivia nerd so I take boating classes

Most of the time I make no sense either so Tryagain explain it better please and I will owe you one. :wink:

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I am AWOL from the internet pd. I got caught earlier. So, as much as I love staying I cannot because I have to plan my escape and try to stay a step ahead. Be nice to me on my answer Tryagain, I am under pressure from those internet pd ya know. :wink:

Hey markr, check your pm

[size=8]COXSWAIN
3 mph[/size]

Thoh:

I'm too lazy to type up all the math but the rowing speed cancels out and the river flows at a rate of 264 ft/min.

Nice! Have a jelly bean.


TTH:

The bridges are 1 mile apart. The hat is floating on the river I assume. It took 10 minutes to row upstream before the embarrassed one (that would be mark or thoh- he he both men) realized the hat was gone. They turn around, still have to row 10 minutes to get back to the hat = 20 minutes (the length it took the hat to float 1 mile back to the original bridge). <Yawn>

Otherwise 20 minutes in 1 mile or 3 miles in an hour…. " explain it better please and I will owe you one."

Avast there me harties, I knew she would be willing to take one for the team.

"Okay, I am not a coxswain, but I have many talents"
Sorry! Should that be in the humor section?

"I am under pressure from … Hey markr…"

Although I am not a qualified cupid Agony Aunt, may I suggest you stay on top to relieve said pressure.


Mark:

COXSWAIN
3 mph


I think we now know who's hat it was!
Since the crew's speed is measured relative to the river and the hat is floating on the river, the time it takes the crew to get back to the hat is also 10 minutes. So, in 20 minutes the hat travelled 1 mile down the river. Therefore, the river's speed is 1 mile/20 minutes or 3 miles per hour.
Or leagues in a fathom as Thoh might say.



Thoh has two tiny bags of jelly beans.
Each bag contains two red jelly beans and two yellow ones.

For the mathematically challenged; (four jelly beans per bag -- a total of eight in the two bags).

He loves yellow jelly beans. If he reaches in the bags and takes out one jelly bean from each, what are the chances that he'll get at least one yellow jelly bean


No peeking now.

Duplicate entry.