Trick question thread

[danzibr]

Post your trick questions here!

The phrase "trick question" doesn't seem to have a single set definition. Not necessarily questions without answers, but questions which, well, are meant to trick people. Or perhaps have a trick in them.

Here's one that comes to mind for me:

Q1: What is the area of a circle?

Edit: And by all means, feel free to answer others' questions (and your own if nobody else gets it).

[shawnhcorey]

A hunter make camp. He then walked exactly 10 km due south. He turned and walked exactly 10 km due east where he shot a bear. He discovered to get back to his camp, he had to walk exactly 10 km due north. What colour was the bear?

[razark]

What colour was the bear?
Not enough information to answer the question.

[MikelaC1]

The bear was white. The only spot on the world where you can walk 10 miles south, 10 miles east and then 10 miles north to return to the original spot is the North Pole, making the bear a polar bear.

[shawnhcorey]

What colour was the bear?


Not enough information to answer the question.

Yes, there is. There is a trick; that's why it's called trick questions. :smallbiggrin:

[Reverent-One]

A hunter make camp. He then walked exactly 10 km due south. He turned and walked exactly 10 km due east where he shot a bear. He discovered to get back to his camp, he had to walk exactly 10 km due north. What colour was the bear?

White. Also, whitespace.

EDIT: Ninja'd! Nooooo!

[razark]

Yes, there is. There is a trick; that's why it's called trick questions. :smallbiggrin:
There is a trick. The camp is located at the north pole.

However, polar bears do not range that far north, so any bear found in the region must have been brought by the hunter or someone else. There is nothing that indicates that the bear supplier did, in fact, supply a polar bear.

Edit: And nothing in the question states the bear was alive when he shot it, so the "Only a polar bear could survive those conditions" argument doesn't work.

Further edit: On further research it appears that polar bears have been found that close to the pole on rare occasions.
(However, nothing in the question states it was a naturally occurring bear.)

[shawnhcorey]

The bear was white. The only spot on the world where you can walk 10 miles south, 10 miles east and then 10 miles north to return to the original spot is the North Pole, making the bear a polar bear.

Actually, you can do the same thing near the south pole but no bears live there. You walk 10 km south, you walk 10 km around the south pole in one or more complete circles. You end up 10 km south of your camp. :smallsmile:

[shawnhcorey]

There is a trick. The camp is located at the north pole.

However, polar bears do not range that far north, so any bear found in the region must have been brought by the hunter or someone else. There is nothing that indicates that the bear supplier did, in fact, supply a polar bear.

Edit: And nothing in the question states the bear was alive when he shot it, so the "Only a polar bear could survive those conditions" argument doesn't work.

Polar bears live where there are seals. Seals live where there is open water and fish. Most polar bears do not wander that far north because the females like to give birth on land (happens once every two years) and males like to be near the females (something about sex). It's not likely to find a bear that far north but not impossible.

[Jarawara]

Not enough information to answer the question.

Razark is correct - there is not enough information to answer the question.

You see, the answer is "Bright Lime Green", because the hunter had come to the rescue of a Jello Fruit Pop production facility that the bear had been attacking. The bear had just chased the workers into a vat of Lime Green Jello, thus coloring the bear's fur. The hunter saved miss Cecilia Lampart, and though the original story also does not say, Cecilia was in fact quite comely and of marryable age. So the hunter was in haste to return to camp with Cecilia, and thus took the most direct route to camp, which was due north, 10 miles.

Obviously, the trick to this question is to know the full story.

*~*~*

By the way... what *is* the area of a circle?

[razark]

By the way... what *is* the area of a circle?
It depends on how thick you draw the line to make the circle.

Although, a mathematical circle is the set of all points equidistant from a single point. Since a point has no area, the sum of areas of those infinite points is zero.

[shawnhcorey]

By the way... what *is* the area of a circle?

πr²

√(-1) (4+4) Σ π :smallbiggrin:

[The_Clough]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

[Androgeus]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

Do you mean £1 or lb?

[smellie_hippie]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

The weigh the same.

Q: A plane crashes on the border between the United States and Canada. Where do you bury the survivors?

[Flickerdart]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?
A pound of feathers, because the moral burden of stripping a poor defenseless bird of all those feathers weighs more heavily on your heart than the feathers themselves.

[Feytalist]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

Depends whether you mean pound by weight or by value. Heh.

[razark]

Where do you bury the survivors?
Wherever I want to, so long as I can ignore their screams.

[shawnhcorey]

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

They weigh the same. Now, which weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?


The weigh the same.

Q: A plane crashes on the border between the United States and Canada. Where do you bury the survivors?

Where their families want them but you'll have to wait until they die.

[snoopy13a]

The weigh the same.

Q: A plane crashes on the border between the United States and Canada. Where do you bury the survivors?

That one is my favorite. You don't, of course, bury survivors.

Bob has five apples. You take two away. How many apples do you have?

[MikelaC1]

They weigh the same. Now, which weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?

I know that one weighs more than the other because gold is measured in troy ounces to the pound whereas other things use a different ounce measurement, but Im not sure which is. Im pretty sure its the feathers.

[Emmerask]

This one is not exactly from me, its from a dark eye adventure (at least thats where I first heard it maybe its from some other story/legend).
So I try to remember the exact words but also try to not use campaign specific terms so all may understand.

The two greatest riders of the age meet in a small valley to once and for all decide who is the best.
After a lengthy discussion they decide that the finish line would be one mile away in at the mouth of the valley and that the one whos horse crosses last wins.
The race starts and they both sit down near a tree which spends shade in the hot summer day.
They sit there for hours but suddenly one of them jumps up mounts and proceeds to to ride as fast as he can towards the finish line and crosses it.

And wins, how did he do it?
meh, its a bit more ambivalent in german lets see if its to easy in english :smallsmile:

[razark]

They weigh the same. Now, which weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?
The feathers.

1 troy pound * 12 troy ounces/pound * 480 grains/ounce = 5760 grains

1 avoirdupois pound * 16 avoirdupois ounce/pound * 437.5 grains/ounce = 7000 grains

[snoopy13a]

This one is not exactly from me, its from a dark eye adventure (at least thats where I first heard it maybe its from some other story/legend).
So I try to remember the exact words but also try to not use campaign specific terms so all may understand.

The two greatest riders of the age meet in a small valley to once and for all decide who is the best.
After a lengthy discussion they decide that the finish line would be one mile away in at the mouth of the valley and that the one whos horse crosses last wins.
The race starts and they both sit down near a tree which spends shade in the hot summer day.
They sit there for hours but suddenly one of them jumps up mounts and proceeds to to ride as fast as he can towards the finish line and crosses it.

And wins, how did he do it?
meh, its a bit more ambivalent in german lets see if its to easy in english :smallsmile:

He rode the other guy's horse?

[Emmerask]

He rode the other guy's horse?

yep :)

As I said its a bit better in german (or my english skills are not good enough to translate it more ambivalent^^)

[Flickerdart]

They sit there for hours but suddenly one of them jumps up mounts and proceeds to to ride as fast as he can towards the finish line and crosses it.

And wins, how did he do it?
Simple. He took the other man's horse.

Edit: Ach, ninjas.

[Androgeus]

This one is not exactly from me, its from a dark eye adventure (at least thats where I first heard it maybe its from some other story/legend).
So I try to remember the exact words but also try to not use campaign specific terms so all may understand.

The two greatest riders of the age meet in a small valley to once and for all decide who is the best.
After a lengthy discussion they decide that the finish line would be one mile away in at the mouth of the valley and that the one whos horse crosses last wins.
The race starts and they both sit down near a tree which spends shade in the hot summer day.
They sit there for hours but suddenly one of them jumps up mounts and proceeds to to ride as fast as he can towards the finish line and crosses it.

And wins, how did he do it?
meh, its a bit more ambivalent in german lets see if its to easy in english :smallsmile:

The owner of the last horse out of the valley wins. The leaving rider took his opponent's horse.

[shawnhcorey]

yep :)

As I said its a bit better in german (or my english skills are not good enough to translate it more ambivalent^^)

And it took them hours to figure this out? They might be the world's greatest riders but they are also the world's dumbest ones. :smallbiggrin:

[The_Clough]

Q: A plane crashes on the border between the United States and Canada. Where do you bury the survivors?

You don't bury survivors.

A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the surface of the water. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?

[Emmerask]

And it took them hours to figure this out? They might be the world's greatest riders but they are also the world's dumbest ones. :smallbiggrin:

Simpler times with simpler minds :smallbiggrin:

[MikelaC1]

You don't bury survivors.

A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the surface of the water. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?

Never since the boat will rise with the tide as well.

[razark]

How long will it be until three rungs are covered?
It depends on how the load on the boat changes, as it will be lower in the water as it carries more load. The tide will not affect it.

[shawnhcorey]

You don't bury survivors.

A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the surface of the water. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?

Shortly after the boat sinks.

[MikelaC1]

A guy is found dead of a gunshot wound, sitting in his car. All the doors are locked and all the windows rolled up tightly. There are no bullet holes in the vehicle and there is no gun in the vehicle. How was he shot?

[snoopy13a]

This one's an oldie but no longer a goodie:

A boy and his father were traveling on a highway. Unfortunately, they get into an accident and the father dies. The boy is rushed to a hospital and enters surgery. The surgeon stands back and says, "I can't operate on this boy; he is my son."

How can this be?

[Androgeus]

A guy is found dead of a gunshot wound, sitting in his car. All the doors are locked and all the windows rolled up tightly. There are no bullet holes in the vehicle and there is no gun in the vehicle. How was he shot?

He was shot before he got in the car.


This one's an oldie but no longer a goodie:

A boy and his father were traveling on a highway. Unfortunately, they get into an accident and the father dies. The boy is rushed to a hospital and enters surgery. The surgeon stands back and says, "I can't operate on this boy; he is my son."

How can this be?

Same sex parents?

[The_Admiral]

Or the surgeon's his mom.

[Emmerask]

This one's an oldie but no longer a goodie:

A boy and his father were traveling on a highway. Unfortunately, they get into an accident and the father dies. The boy is rushed to a hospital and enters surgery. The surgeon stands back and says, "I can't operate on this boy; he is my son."

How can this be?

The son was adopted.


Or the surgeon's his mom.

or this ^^

[Androgeus]

Or the surgeon's his mom.

Nah, I'll keep being sexist and assume that the surgeon is male.

[razark]

The surgeon stands back and says, "I can't operate on this boy; he is my son."

How can this be?
The surgeon was his mother.


Nah, I'll keep being sexist and assume that the surgeon is male.
Or the surgeon was mistaken or lying.


How was he shot?
Whoever shot him locked the car when he closed the door.

[snoopy13a]

Or the surgeon's his mom.

Yeah, the surgeon is his mom.

[MikelaC1]

No right answers yet.

[razark]

No right answers yet.
He was in a convertible with the top down.

[Emmerask]

It was a convertible? :smallbiggrin:

damn you ninjas, I need to become a pirate :smallwink:

[smellie_hippie]

No right answers yet.

Car was a convertible.

[shawnhcorey]

A guy is found dead of a gunshot wound, sitting in his car. All the doors are locked and all the windows rolled up tightly. There are no bullet holes in the vehicle and there is no gun in the vehicle. How was he shot?

The car was a convertable and the top was down.


This one's an oldie but no longer a goodie:

A boy and his father were traveling on a highway. Unfortunately, they get into an accident and the father dies. The boy is rushed to a hospital and enters surgery. The surgeon stands back and says, "I can't operate on this boy; he is my son."

How can this be?

The surgeon was the boy's mother.

[The_Admiral]

He was shot, the door locked and then slammed.

Dammit, but mine works too.

[smellie_hippie]

damn you ninjas, I need to become a pirate :smallwink:

Best. Answer. Ever! :biggrin:

[MikelaC1]

Convertible is the right answer.

[razark]

Dammit, but mine works too.
That's the problem with trick questions. There are so many answers that might fit, but you have to come up with the one the asker is looking for.

[shawnhcorey]

That's the problem with trick questions. There are so many answers that might fit, but you have to come up with the one the asker is looking for.

"What's in my pocket?"

[Dr.Epic]

Can you guess what really good Michael Bay film I saw last night?

[Emmerask]

Trick! you don´t have any pockets in your current attire :smallwink:

(only way this can be a TRICK question)

[MikelaC1]

Can you guess what really good Michael Bay film I saw last night?

There is no good Michael Bay film?

[The_Clough]

How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

[Totally Guy]

What is the name of the person driving the bus?

It's totally going to be Guy.

[MikelaC1]

How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

No dirt in a hole

[smellie_hippie]

How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

about as much as there is visible text in this post...

[snoopy13a]

I want to imagine that you're a bus driver. The bus you're driving has ten passengers on board. At the first stop half as many men get off as women, and one women and one more child than the number of men who got off gets on. At the second stop the same number of men get off as last time, which is one more than the number of women who get off, and one man gets on. At the third stop all of the children get off, half being accompanied by a man and half by a woman. At the fourth stop one and a half times as many men as women get on and no one gets off. At the fifth stop all of the women get off bar two, and this number plus three is the number of men who get on. What is the name of the person driving the bus?



Snoopy :smalltongue:

[razark]

Bob has five apples. You take two away. How many apples do you have?
This one never got answered?

I have two apples.

[Dr.Epic]

There is no good Michael Bay film?

Yes!
:smallwink:

[snoopy13a]

This one never got answered?

I have two apples.

Right.

Now for a juvenile one,

"Railroad crossing, watch out for the cars." Can you spell it without any Rs?

[Fiery Diamond]

Right.

Now for a juvenile one,

"Railroad crossing, watch out for the cars." Can you spell it without any Rs?

I - T.

I always hated those kind as a kid. Now where's that xkcd... Here we are! (http://xkcd.com/169/)


I don't think the convertible is a trick question, really. It's more a really easy lateral thinking puzzle.

I prefer more difficult lateral thinking puzzles that actually require the solver to ask yes/no questions of the giver to reveal more information. Makes you feel like an investigator!:smallbiggrin:

[danzibr]

Just to clarify: yup, a circle technically has 0 area. A disc has area pi*radius^2.

Another question: A farmer has 2 sheep, 4 ducks, 7 chickens, a cat, 3 horses and 5 sheep and 3 chickens. Yes or no: does the farmer have 3 ducks?

[Traab]

There is a certain sound a common barn swallow makes when he wants to attract a mate. Can you spell it?

[Goosefeather]

There is a certain sound a common barn swallow makes when he wants to attract a mate. Can you spell it?

African or European? :smalltongue:

(also, 'it' is spelt 'i', 't')

[Traab]

African or European? :smalltongue:

(also, 'it' is spelt 'i', 't')

Yeah, the trick question works better in a verbal form than written so I had to adjust it to match. Normally I would say something like,

Antidisestablishmentarianism is one of the longest words in the english language, spell it.

[enderlord99]

Convertible is the right answer.

...So he didn't commit suicide?

[AsteriskAmp]

Just to clarify: yup, a circle technically has 0 area. A disc has area pi*radius^2.

Another question: A farmer has 2 sheep, 4 ducks, 7 chickens, a cat, 3 horses and 5 sheep and 3 chickens. Yes or no: does the farmer have 3 ducks?Yes. He has 1 duck, he has 2 ducks, he has 3 ducks, he has 4 ducks.

...So he didn't commit suicide?
There was no gun in the car and the deadly wound was a gunshot. (though he could shoot and enter to die.

[Goosefeather]

Convertible is the right answer.

Huh. I was expecting an answer related to this apocryphal story (http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/fuse.asp) of someone using a bullet in place of a fuse in their vehicle, said bullet subsequently heating up, expanding and being expelled at high velocity, injuring the driver.

Convertible works too, I guess :smallbiggrin:



Another question: A farmer has 2 sheep, 4 ducks, 7 chickens, a cat, 3 horses and 5 sheep and 3 chickens. Yes or no: does the farmer have 3 ducks?

A white horse is not a horse? (http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/Philosophical/Horse.html)

[Flickerdart]

Another question: A farmer has 2 sheep, 4 ducks, 7 chickens, a cat, 3 horses and 5 sheep and 3 chickens. Yes or no: does the farmer have 3 ducks?
Depends on whether it's parsed as a string ("4 ducks") in which case the farmer does not have 3 ducks, or as a variable ("ducks = 3") with a boolean expression of ducks>=3, in which case the farmer does have three ducks.

[Feytalist]

Depends on whether it's parsed as a string ("4 ducks") in which case the farmer does not have 3 ducks, or as a variable ("ducks = 3") with a boolean expression of ducks>=3, in which case the farmer does have three ducks.

And here I was thinking that the cat ate one of the ducks, or something silly like that.

[The_Admiral]

How much dirt is there in a hole 3 feet deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

None it's a bloody hole

[danzibr]

As for the ducks, yeah. He has 3. It would be more complete to say he has 4, but he certainly has 3.

[smellie_hippie]

As for the ducks, yeah. He has 3. It would be more complete to say he has 4, but he certainly has 3.

5 is right out!!

[shawnhcorey]

There was a family of Biggers. There was Papa Bigger, Moma Bigger, Brother Bigger, Sister Bigger, and Baby Bigger. Which one was the largest?

[Androgeus]

Antidisestablishmentarianism is one of the longest words in the english language, spell it.

T - I


Wait, I think I messed up.

[Emmerask]

Papa > Moma > Brother > Sister > Baby

[shawnhcorey]

Papa > Moma > Brother > Sister > Baby

Nope, that's not it.

[Emmerask]

Then the other way round? it can be read either way :smallbiggrin:
ie baby > all


Anyway new one,
You pass the last place in an 800m race, at what place will you finish if you hold that position?

[Feytalist]

Anyway new one,
You pass the last place in an 800m race, at what place will you finish if you hold that position?

First, because presumably you've lapped the poor bugger in last place.

[shawnhcorey]

Then the other way round? it can be read either way :smallbiggrin:
ie baby > all?

Baby Bigger is the largest because he's a little Bigger. :biggrin:

[Emmerask]

First, because presumably you've lapped the poor bugger in last place.

yep :smallsmile:

[razark]

You pass the last place in an 800m race, at what place will you finish if you hold that position?
Last. You never said which direction you passed.

[Hippie_Viking]

5 is right out!!

And don't even get me started on 6...:smalltongue:

So for a question: The red guy lives in the red house, the blue guy lives in the blue house and the green guy lives in the green house, who lives in the white house?

[razark]

...who lives in the white house?
I dunno about this. Is this moving the thread into politics now?

[Morcleon]

And don't even get me started on 6...:smalltongue:

So for a question: The red guy lives in the red house, the blue guy lives in the blue house and the green guy lives in the green house, who lives in the white house?

It's quite obviously the white guy. If you wanted the answer to be "the President and his family", then you would have written "...in the White House". :smallwink:

[Hippie_Viking]

It's quite obviously the white guy. If you wanted the answer to be "the President and his family", then you would have written "...in the White House". :smallwink:

So... double trick?:smalltongue: , I even manage to trick myself, I am good at this:smallwink: or maybe I just need to read up on what words should be capitalized in English, he.

[snoopy13a]

Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?

[razark]

Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?
No one is buried in the tomb.

[snoopy13a]

No one is buried in the tomb.

Yeah, "Grant" or "Grant and Mrs. Grant" are also usually acceptable as lesser answers (because their bodies are in the tomb but not buried). "The tomb is empty" is the wrong answer and some people guess that because the answer is seemingly obvious.

[Lord Raziere]

Which political system won the Cold War, Capitalism or Communism?

[Emmerask]

capitalism is no political system (although capitalism does have political consequences but thats not part of the answer I guess and does not really belong in this forum :-))

[The_Clough]

How many legs does an elephant have if you count his trunk as a leg?

[razark]

capitalism is no political system (although capitalism does have political consequences but thats not part of the answer I guess and does not really belong in this forum :-))
Communism is also an economic system, and there's the trick to the question.

[enderlord99]

Snoopy :smalltongue:

No! Enderlord!

:smalltongue:

[Flickerdart]

It's quite obviously the white guy. If you wanted the answer to be "the President and his family", then you would have written "...in the White House". :smallwink:
There's more than one White House in the world, you know.

[Jodah]

How many legs does an elephant have if you count his trunk as a leg?

4 - if you count the trunk as the leg you are wrong.

[mattie_p]

There was a family of Biggers. There was Papa Bigger, Moma Bigger, Brother Bigger, Sister Bigger, and Baby Bigger. Which one was the largest?

None of them were the Largest, they were all Bigger. :smallbiggrin:

[The_Clough]

You have a cup placed on a table. You are pointing towards the North and the cup is facing towards the South. On which side is the cup's handle?

[enderlord99]

You have a cup placed on a table. You are pointing towards the North and the cup is facing towards the South. On which side is the cup's handle?

The outside (and possibly the top, too).

[mattie_p]

The outside (and possibly the top, too).

Not guaranteed. These are a thing. (http://www.etsy.com/listing/127586274/vintage-coffee-cup-polish-joke-coffee?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=vintage_low&gclid=CMGbwLWVsrYCFQvnnAodU1IAxw)

[shawnhcorey]

The outside (and possibly the top, too).

I don't think so. http://cunicode.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/day-11-Hard-to-Handle-Cup.487-620x468.jpg

[mattie_p]

I don't think so. http://cunicode.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/day-11-Hard-to-Handle-Cup.487-620x468.jpg

Oh, you found a better picture. I have one of those.

[Fiery Diamond]

I don't think so. http://cunicode.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/day-11-Hard-to-Handle-Cup.487-620x468.jpg

How do you hold it? Why does it exist?

[thubby]

You have a cup placed on a table. You are pointing towards the North and the cup is facing towards the South. On which side is the cup's handle?

how does a cup have facing? with rare exception, they have some kind of symmetry.

[Daniel Raen]

Do you want a Hurts Donut?

[Douglas]

...

What possible reason could there be for such a cup design to exist, other than as a joke?

[enderlord99]

Do you want a Hurts Donut?

First of all, it's Hertz. Also... no.

[Daniel Raen]

I guess I've never seen it spelled out!
Nobody ever falls for it more than once :smalltongue:

[razark]

On which side is the cup's handle?
I don't agree with the definition, but:
There is no handle, because it's a cup, not a mug.

[truemane]

This is one of my favourites. No googling. And no answering if you already know it.

Three men go to a motel. The man at the desk charges them $30.00 for a room. They split the cost $10.00 each. Later the man realizes that he overcharged them and the cost should have been $25.00. He gives the bellboy $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men.

The bellboy, however, decides to cheat the men and pockets $2.00, giving each of the men only one dollar.

Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 x $9.00 = $27.00. The bellboy has pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00 - so where is the missing $1.00?

[Elemental]

There is no missing dollar, there's two missing dollars, and they're in the bellboy's pocket.
Solving it visually yields an answer of them paying thirty-dollars, with three dollars change and a two dollar "tip" that they didn't agree to.


Anyway... Here's an easy one you've probably all heard:
Two fathers took their sons to the movies, yet they only purchased three tickets. How is this possible?

[shawnhcorey]

Two fathers took their sons to the movies, yet they only purchased three tickets. How is this possible?

And one got a senior's discount. :smallwink:

[Deepbluediver]

This is one of my favourites. No googling. And no answering if you already know it.

Three men go to a motel. The man at the desk charges them $30.00 for a room. They split the cost $10.00 each. Later the man realizes that he overcharged them and the cost should have been $25.00. He gives the bellboy $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men.

The bellboy, however, decides to cheat the men and pockets $2.00, giving each of the men only one dollar.

Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 x $9.00 = $27.00. The bellboy has pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00 - so where is the missing $1.00?

The trick is that your math is wrong (or maybe your accounting, I guess)

The men paid $25 dollars for the hotel room, plus the 1 they all got back (3x1=3).
25+3=28
28+2 (that the bellboy kept) =$30



Ok, now here's mine:

A man is in a boat that is floating in a very small pond. Also in the boat is a large block of concrete. The man throws the concrete out of the boat into the water. Does the level of the water in the pond rise or fall?

[razark]

Two fathers took their sons to the movies, yet they only purchased three tickets. How is this possible?
There's two fathers and two sons. One father also happens to be one of the sons, too. A grandfather, his son, and his grandson.

[shawnhcorey]

The trick is that your math is wrong (or maybe your accounting, I guess)

Accounting is only wrong if it's not done by a certified accountant. :smallbiggrin:


Ok, now here's mine:

A man is in a boat that is floating in a very small pond. Also in the boat is a large block of concrete. The man throws the concrete out of the boat into the water. Does the level of the water in the pond rise or fall?

How much will sea level rise when the Arctic icecap melt?

[The Succubus]

Ok, now here's mine:

A man is in a boat that is floating in a very small pond. Also in the boat is a large block of concrete. The man throws the concrete out of the boat into the water. Does the level of the water in the pond rise or fall?

Stays the same. Displacement <> addition or removal.

[mattie_p]

This is one that I first heard as a kid.

You are stuck in a room with no windows or doors. The walls, ceiling, and floor are apparently indestructible. The only contents of the room (aside from yourself) are a light, a mirror, and a table. How do you escape?

[Deepbluediver]

How much will sea level rise when the Arctic icecap melt?

None, because it's floating. The Antartic ice cap, however, is mostly on land, and it is estimated that if it melted entirely, see levels would rise approx. 200 feet.



Stays the same. Displacement <> addition or removal.

Correct principle, but wrong application, sorry. The water level will not stay the same. Can you figure out what it will do, and why?

Your answer is the obvious one, and since this is a trick question, is obviously wrong. :)

[razark]

The water level will not stay the same. Can you figure out what it will do, and why?
Down.

The block's weight in water is being displaced to keep it afloat. Removing it from the boat and placing it in the water means that it is now displacing less water than it's weight (or it wouldn't sink). Since it is displacing less water, the total water level goes down.

[Deepbluediver]

^ And we have a WINAAAAAAAAAH'!



This is one that I first heard as a kid.

You are stuck in a room with no windows or doors. The walls, ceiling, and floor are apparently indestructible. The only contents of the room (aside from yourself) are a light, a mirror, and a table. How do you escape?

Remembered the approximate answer, but I confess I needed to look up the exact wording. Basically...

"Look in the mirror to see what you saw"
Take the saw and cut the table in half
but both halves back together to make a whole
jump out through the whole.



FYI, I hated riddles like this because it doesn't rely on logic or even perception, just on apparently being able to follow the same train of bad grammar and brain-screw logic as the speaker.

[Deepbluediver]

I remembered a couple more, here's the first.


A man is pushing his car along. He stops at a hotel and pays $200. A few minutes later he's pushing his car along again. He stops at another hotel and pays $300. Whats going on here?


If you need a hint, I'll answer any question, provided I can do so with a simple "yes" or "no". :smallsmile:

[GnomeFighter]

Is he playing monopoly?

[Deepbluediver]

Is he playing monopoly?

Yes :(


Have you heard that one before, or are you just super smart?


Ok, how about this one:

A man is running up the stairs clutching a piece of paper. The lights flicker and he walks calmly back down the stairs. What's going on?

[mattie_p]

Remembered the approximate answer, but I confess I needed to look up the exact wording. Basically...

"Look in the mirror to see what you saw"
Take the saw and cut the table in half
but both halves back together to make a whole
jump out through the whole.
Close, you forgot to turn the light on so you could see in the first place, but you're there.



Is he playing monopoly?
Yes :(


Have you heard that one before, or are you just super smart?

Not playing Monopoly, there is no property that charges rent of $200 or $300 with a hotel. Closest is Mediterranean and Baltic, for $250 and $450, respectively. [/nitpick] :smallbiggrin:

[Flickerdart]

How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?
Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door.

How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.

The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend.... except one. Which animal does not attend?
The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.

There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?
You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting.

[razark]

A man is running up the stairs clutching a piece of paper. The lights flicker and he walks calmly back down the stairs. What's going on?
He's a bit late delivering the pardon from the governor.

[Mordar]

A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He stays for three days, then rides out on Tuesday. Explain.

And yes, it is a reasonable movie except for the silly hidden ball trick

[Morcleon]

How do you put a giraffe in a refrigerator?

Open door, place giraffe in, close door.


How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Open door, place elephant in, close door. You never said that you actually put the giraffe in the refrigerator. You just asked how you would do it. :smallwink:


The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend.... except one. Which animal does not attend?

Not enough info. Again, you never said that you actually put the giraffe/elephant in the fridge.

Alternatively, the human. Because he's standing there trying to figure out how to stuff animals inside refrigerators.


There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?


Swimming. All the crocodiles are at the conference. Now this time, it's actually be stated that something has happened (ie, all animals attend conference)


A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He stays for three days, then rides out on Tuesday. Explain.

Horse is named Tuesday.

[Gravitron5000]

^ And we have a WINAAAAAAAAAH'!

Remembered the approximate answer, but I confess I needed to look up the exact wording. Basically...

"Look in the mirror to see what you saw"
Take the saw and cut the table in half
but both halves back together to make a whole
jump out through the whole.

FYI, I hated riddles like this because it doesn't rely on logic or even perception, just on apparently being able to follow the same train of bad grammar and brain-screw logic as the speaker.

You don't really need the mirror. Turn the light on, you see the table. Turn the light off, now you saw the table. Keep sawing the table until it is in half. You know the rest.


A cowboy rides into town on Tuesday. He stays for three days, then rides out on Tuesday. Explain.

And yes, it is a reasonable movie except for the silly hidden ball trick

His horse is named Tuesday.

[Deepbluediver]

He's a bit late delivering the pardon from the governor.

And apparently I need some new material. :smallsigh:

For anyone who doesn't get it, the man running up the stairs is deleivering a pardon for another man, who is about to be executed via electric chair. The lights flicker as the chair draws extra power, and the first man turns around and head back down because he's too late.

[Androgeus]

There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?
You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting.

You never said where the meeting was, surely it's possible that the crocodiles are able to attend the meeting while still being in the river


Remembered the approximate answer, but I confess I needed to look up the exact wording. Basically...

"Look in the mirror to see what you saw"
Take the saw and cut the table in half
but both halves back together to make a whole
jump out through the whole.



FYI, I hated riddles like this because it doesn't rely on logic or even perception, just on apparently being able to follow the same train of bad grammar and brain-screw logic as the speaker.

Can't you just see the whole table and use that hole to get out?

[Flickerdart]

And apparently I need some new material. :smallsigh:

For anyone who doesn't get it, the man running up the stairs is deleivering a pardon for another man, who is about to be executed via electric chair. The lights flicker as the chair draws extra power, and the first man turns around and head back down because he's too late.
What kind of a person would walk "calmly" after he let an innocent man die?

[Morbis Meh]

This is one that I first heard as a kid.

You are stuck in a room with no windows or doors. The walls, ceiling, and floor are apparently indestructible. The only contents of the room (aside from yourself) are a light, a mirror, and a table. How do you escape?

My mind just went to a really dark place not suitable for a childrens riddle lol Yes i am a bad person.

[Fiery Diamond]

I don't agree with the definition, but:
There is no handle, because it's a cup, not a mug.

Teacups have handles. Also, it's a glass that definitively doesn't have a handle, I think.

[Slipperychicken]

What kind of a person would walk "calmly" after he let an innocent man die?

Adventurers?

[GnomeFighter]

Adventurers?


What? Walk away from a body without looting it? That dosn't sound like any party I know.

[factotum]

What kind of a person would walk "calmly" after he let an innocent man die?

Just because they've been pardoned doesn't actually mean they're innocent, but perhaps "slowly" would have been better than "calmly"....

[Brother Oni]

His horse is named Tuesday.

Actually it's Susan and he wants you to respect his life choices.

[Deepbluediver]

What kind of a person would walk "calmly" after he let an innocent man die?


Adventurers?

I was going to say "a bureaucrat" but that works to!



Just because they've been pardoned doesn't actually mean they're innocent, but perhaps "slowly" would have been better than "calmly"....

Maybe slowly would be better, I'll keep that in mind next time I pose the riddle. But still, the man had been running, which means he was making a serious effort in the first place. If you really want to delve into the emotional ramifications of the scenario, maybe he's just the kind of person who doesn't dwell on the past, especially if it was something outside of his control
And we're WAY overthinking this now...


Also, I've been pondering more about what exactly a "trick question" is. Is it just something that is difficult to answer? Is it something that has an obvious, but wrong solution, and the true answer to counter-intuitive? Is it something that is actually impossible to answer?
I'm sure that we could come up with some questions that are just plain unanswerable for any numer of reasons

example- "What is the value of Pi, exactly?"

[Feytalist]

Also, I've been thinking more about what exactly a "trick question" is. Is it just something that is difficult to answer? Is it something that has an obvious, but wrong solution, and the true answer to counter-intuitive? Is it something that is actually impossible to answer?

Maybe just something with an obvious, wrong, and a non-obvious, right answer.

Or additionally a question with a non-obvious, "tricky" solution.

[Flickerdart]

example- "What is the value of Pi, exactly?"
Pi, like most things, is exactly equal to itself.

Is a crocodile longer than it is green, or greener than it is long? Justify your answer.

[Totally Guy]

Is a crocodile longer than it is green, or greener than it is long? Justify your answer.

As a crocodile I intend to be just as green as I am long.

[Lorsa]

I thought a trick question was a question that didn't have an answer. Something like "What are the names of the two moon's of Earth?"

[mattie_p]

I thought a trick question was a question that didn't have an answer. Something like "What are the names of the two moon's of Earth?"

I'd go with Luna and "My buttcrack named Stevedore", personally. YMMV.

[Brother Oni]

Also, I've been pondering more about what exactly a "trick question" is. Is it just something that is difficult to answer? Is it something that has an obvious, but wrong solution, and the true answer to counter-intuitive? Is it something that is actually impossible to answer?


I personally define it as any question likely to appear on QI. :smalltongue:

On a more serious note, I'd class a trick question as one where the immediate 'obvious' answer by common knowledge is incorrect. This could be due to common misconception, the question is un-answerable or the answer is unknown, or is deliberately worded to hide the answer (the 'I met a man on the way to the fair' question is a classic example).

[Flickerdart]

As a crocodile I intend to be just as green as I am long.
Wrong. A crocodile is longer than it is green, because it's long on top and on the bottom, but only green on the top.

[Weimann]

You don't really need the mirror. Turn the light on, you see the table. Turn the light off, now you saw the table. Keep sawing the table until it is in half. You know the rest.


Can't you just see the whole table and use that hole to get out?

Are we optimising riddle solutions now? Is that a thing we do?

Actual contribution: What is the difference between an elephant?

[Deepbluediver]

Are we optimising riddle solutions now? Is that a thing we do?

WARNING! WARNING! You are approaching the geek singularity!

:smallbiggrin:

[factotum]

I thought a trick question was a question that didn't have an answer. Something like "What are the names of the two moon's of Earth?"

Well, no, because that would just be cheating. A trick question is one where the answer which the questioner requires is not the most obvious one that would occur to most people hearing it, IMHO--in other words, you're tricking the listener into giving the wrong answer.

[RebelRogue]

Although, a mathematical circle is the set of all points equidistant from a single point. Since a point has no area, the sum of areas of those infinite points is zero.
That's a questionable line of thought.

[razark]

That's a questionable line of thought.
And that means it doesn't belong in this thread titled "Completely Serious Questions and Their Answers Which Require No Lateral Thinking, Dubious Definitions, Etc.".

Although, please demonstrate adding zero to itself repeatedly and getting something besides zero. That would really be a trick.

[Dr.Epic]

A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?

[Morcleon]

A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?

You don't say anything. Just walk across the bridge.

-OR-

"This sentence is false."

[Flickerdart]

A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?
I perform the sign of the cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_cross) on the bridge. Having successfully crossed it, I continue on my merry way.

[mattie_p]

One of my favorites to trick people. This is interactive, please say it out loud. If you cannot, please think the answer. (If you know it, just don't answer.)

Say, "ghost."






Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost."







Say, "ghost, ghost."








Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."










What do you put in a toaster?

[Flickerdart]

One of my favorites to trick people. This is interactive, please say it out loud. If you cannot, please think the answer. (If you know it, just don't answer.)

Say, "ghost."






Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost."







Say, "ghost, ghost."








Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."










What do you put in a toaster?
Bagels. I don't understand the difficulty here.

[RebelRogue]

And that means it doesn't belong in this thread titled "Completely Serious Questions and Their Answers Which Require No Lateral Thinking, Dubious Definitions, Etc.".

Although, please demonstrate adding zero to itself repeatedly and getting something besides zero. That would really be a trick.
Consider the set of all points in the plane with both coordinates between 0 and 1, i.e. lying in a square. The set is infinite, and in fact can be shown to have the same cardinality as the set of points on a circle. In layman's terms, the two infinities are of equal magnitude. Every one of these point in the set has an area of zero. Yet the entire square does have a finite area, namely one.

[Tebryn]

One of my favorites to trick people. This is interactive, please say it out loud. If you cannot, please think the answer. (If you know it, just don't answer.)

Say, "ghost."






Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost."







Say, "ghost, ghost."








Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost."









Say, "ghost, ghost, ghost."










What do you put in a toaster?

Not much different than getting people to say "Silk, Silk, Silk" and then asking them to tell you what cows drink. It's not really a -trick question- so much as a trick and then a question. You could just ask the question normally without the word game to trick the brain and get the same answer more times than not I'd imagine.

[Feytalist]

Not much different than getting people to say "Silk, Silk, Silk" and then asking them to tell you what cows drink. It's not really a -trick question- so much as a trick and then a question. You could just ask the question normally without the word game to trick the brain and get the same answer more times than not I'd imagine.

Heh. But cows do drink milk. Calves do, anyway. That's what it's originally there for, after all. :smalltongue:

[Brother Oni]

A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?

Write down "Can I pass please?" and present it to him - he specified 'speak', so non-verbal communication is fine.

[Amidus Drexel]

Are we optimising riddle solutions now? Is that a thing we do?

Actual contribution: What is the difference between an elephant?

Well, yeah. :smallcool:

Hrm... I think that largely depends on how evenly you cut it in two.



Although, please demonstrate adding zero to itself repeatedly and getting something besides zero. That would really be a trick.

And, while I agree with the principle, I'm sure there's an obscure branch of calculus that deals with infinite zeros... it'll be something to do with limits. I'm sure we could finagle the math around to make it work.


A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?

Step away from the knight, and attack him with ranged weapons until he either abandons his post to counter-attack, or dies, at which point I cross the bridge unimpeded.

[enderlord99]

The difference between an אant is the language used.:smalltongue:

[Dr.Epic]

Four people are walking down the road. At the end of the road is a hundred dollar bill. The four people are a stupid wizard from Harry Potter, an intelligent wizard from Harry Potter, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?

[Siosilvar]

"What is the value of Pi, exactly?"

The same as the ratio of a Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter.

What? You never asked for numbers.

[Dr.Epic]

The same as the ratio of a Euclidean circle's circumference to its diameter.

What? You never asked for numbers.

It's 22/7. Fractions are still numbers.:smallwink:

[enderlord99]

It's 22/7. Fractions are still numbers.:smallwink:

That's also still an approximation.

[Emmerask]

A knight stands on guard at a bridge. There is no other way to cross other than the bridge. The knight informs you that if you speak a lie to him he will cut your head off, but if you speak a truth to him he will stab you in the heart. How do you respond?

You will cut my head off.

Which will put the knight in an infinite loop:smallbiggrin:

( Or he gets really pissed of and kills you anyway ^^)

If he would try to cut your head off, you would have spoken the truth so he would have to stab you in the heart but if he would stab you in the heart you would have lied so he actually has to cut your head off... repeat.

Its basically a variation of the last wish riddle.

[Siosilvar]

You will cut my head off.

Which will put the knight in an infinite loop:smallbiggrin:

If he would try to cut your head off, you would have spoken the truth so he would have to stab you in the heart but if he would stab you in the heart you would have lied so he actually has to cut your head off... repeat.

Its basically a variation of the last wish riddle.

Best hope the knight doesn't have two swords.

[Emmerask]

Best hope the knight doesn't have two swords.

true :smallbiggrin:

[Morcleon]

You will cut my head off.

Which will put the knight in an infinite loop:smallbiggrin:

( Or he gets really pissed of and kills you anyway ^^)

If he would try to cut your head off, you would have spoken the truth so he would have to stab you in the heart but if he would stab you in the heart you would have lied so he actually has to cut your head off... repeat.

Its basically a variation of the last wish riddle.

Can't he just cut your head off, then stab you through the heart? :smalltongue:

[Androgeus]

Can't he just cut your head off, then stab you through the heart? :smalltongue:

Or should he stab Emmerask in the heart and then cut his head off?

[thubby]

example- "What is the value of Pi, exactly?"

pi=4*the sum of series arctan

[Amidus Drexel]

Four people are walking down the road. At the end of the road is a hundred dollar bill. The four people are a stupid wizard from Harry Potter, an intelligent wizard from Harry Potter, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. Which one is going to get to the hundred dollar bill first?

Santa Claus, as he's the only one that's real. :smallamused:

[Dr.Epic]

Santa Claus, as he's the only one that's real. :smallamused:

:smallconfused: No.

[Douglas]

Santa Claus, as he's the only one that's real. :smallamused:
Replace Santa with the stupid wizard from Harry Potter, and that's my answer.

[Flickerdart]

Replace Santa with the stupid wizard from Harry Potter, and that's my answer.
Harry Potter wizards have no use for paper currency, especially the stupid ones.

Thus, by process of elimination, we determine that the answer is the Easter Bunny, because he's a sucker for a Benjamin.

[Hyde]

A guy is found dead of a gunshot wound, sitting in his car. All the doors are locked and all the windows rolled up tightly. There are no bullet holes in the vehicle and there is no gun in the vehicle. How was he shot?

The word "tightly" suggests the roof would be up, even if it was a convertible.

Regardless, the answer to "how was he shot?" has to be "With a gun"- it feels like a better trick.

[Katuko]

This is one of my favourites. No googling. And no answering if you already know it.

Three men go to a motel. The man at the desk charges them $30.00 for a room. They split the cost $10.00 each. Later the man realizes that he overcharged them and the cost should have been $25.00. He gives the bellboy $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men.

The bellboy, however, decides to cheat the men and pockets $2.00, giving each of the men only one dollar.

Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 x $9.00 = $27.00. The bellboy has pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00 - so where is the missing $1.00?

Long-winded answer (and a rant about my family) below. :smallannoyed:

I don't like this one, because it is a simple math question and the trick relies on an outright miscalculation rather than clever thinking/wordplay. It is easily solved by just going through the sequence in your head. I don't like it primarily because my father told it to me, however, and he absolutely refused to accept my answer! I said that "Sure, the bellboy took $2, but he took the money from the $5 he was supposed to give back. Thus the man has $25, the boy has $2, and the three guests have $1 each". I was then asked "Do you deny that 27 + 2 equals 29?" No, of course not, I said. "Then explain where the last dollar went."

It didn't go anywhere, I started, before being interrupted: "But they only have 29 total now, where is the last?" So I repeated my explanation, followed by a repeated "but you don't have 29 in your math!" Of course I don't, because that is the question in the riddle, and it is worded to make you think about it the wrong way. We all know that "1 dollar went away" is utterly wrong, that is the entire point, showing how it is actually $30 anyways.

This went on, I even drew the solution on paper (a few stickmen with cash numbers on them), which my father refused to look at. He insisted on the damn 29 dollars, and I said please, just listen, it's simple. 27 plus 2 is 29, yes, but that is utterly irrelevant because that is the point of the riddle: that the math is wrong. The guests got 3 dollars back, 1 each. The man has 25 after giving 5 out of 30 to the boy. The boy took 2. So 27 equals Man + Boy. Saying that 27 plus 2 equals 29 is in this case the same as saying Man + Boy + Boy, adding in 2 dollars too much (for 32), in fact, because the riddle does not then count the 3 that the guests have at all!

At this point, voices were for some reason raised, any explanation I wanted to give fell on deaf ears, I was accused of being a party pooper (for answering a bloody riddle when everyone else had a chance already and my answer was being actively denied for no reason?), "you don't always need to win, son" (was I supposed to lie and pretend to not get it instead?) and a lot of yadda-yadda-yadda. And when I asked "what do you want as the bloody answer, then?" I didn't get any answer. I was just told that I had missed the point of the riddle.

So excuse me, but may I ask what the point of the riddle would be if not to give the answer after everyone else has been unable to solve it for a little while? I had not heard the riddle before, I just found it painfully simple and there was no room for arguing the answer unlike many other riddles.

ANYWAYS. In short, the answer is that $25 are with the man, $2 with the boy and $1 each with the guests; that the math is intentionally wrong to mislead you; and that this is a dumb riddle. :smallbiggrin:


Here's something that is more of a party trick than a riddle, but let's go.

You have a broad soup dish with a small amount of water poured into the bottom of it. It's about a two or three millimeters deep. You are given a coin, two matchsticks and an empty glass. Assuming the dish is placed on the floor, how do you get the water into the glass without moving the dish at all?

[Flickerdart]

You have a broad soup dish with a small amount of water poured into the bottom of it. It's about a two or three millimeters deep. You are given a coin, two matchsticks and an empty glass. Assuming the dish is placed on the floor, how do you get the water into the glass without moving the dish at all?
Drink the water, spit it out into the glass. I assume the actual method requires you to heat the coin or something to get the water to contract, but you don't need to do that if the requirement is merely "don't move the dish".

[RunicLGB]

You are trapped in a room in the middle of nowhere. There are no apparent exits or entrances. The only items in the room are a mattress and a calendar. You must escape with provisions to return to somewhere.

What do you do?

[Katuko]

Drink the water, spit it out into the glass. I assume the actual method requires you to heat the coin or something to get the water to contract, but you don't need to do that if the requirement is merely "don't move the dish".

Sucking it up and spitting it out is one possible way, yes. The original answer involves using a match, however, and looks cooler. :smallsmile:

[Deepbluediver]

You have a broad soup dish with a small amount of water poured into the bottom of it. It's about a two or three millimeters deep. You are given a coin, two matchsticks and an empty glass. Assuming the dish is placed on the floor, how do you get the water into the glass without moving the dish at all?

It's physics to the rescue!

Place the coin in the water, light the matches, place them on top of the coin (so they are above the water), then before they burn out, place the glass over both (upside down) so it's edges are under water.

As the matches burn, they heat up the air in the glass, causing it to expand, which forces it out from under the edge of the glass. Once the matches use up all the oxygen and burn out, the air inside the glass will cool and contract, drawing the water up into the glass via vacuum pressure.


I sometimes help with the "Science activity pin" for the local Cub Scout troop, I've done this example quite a few times. :smallbiggrin:
Normally I use a small votive candle, which I think is easier to work with than matches.


Edit: I'm still waiting for an answer to the Harry Potter question; if there is one. I'm suspicious that we've reached the point where people may start asking questions without real answers, and just waiting for some one to come up with some halfway plausible before going "yup, that's right!"

[RunicLGB]

Whats the Harry Potter Question? I didn't see it on a quick survey of the thread.

My question has an answer its just one of those...answers.

Here's another one that is more straightforward, well for a trick question:

There are two rooms, Room A and Room B.
No aspect of the other room can be perceived from either room.
You begin in Room A, and once you move to Room B you can not go back.
In Room A there are three light switches, labeled switch 1, switch 2, and switch 3.
One of the Light Switches controls a specific Light bulb in Room B.
Knowing that you cannot return to Room A, how do you discern which switch controls the light bulb?

Edit: forgot a line in my question. added it in.

[Dr.Epic]

Replace Santa with the stupid wizard from Harry Potter, and that's my answer.

Yep.:smallwink:

[thubby]

Whats the Harry Potter Question? I didn't see it on a quick survey of the thread.

My question has an answer its just one of those...answers.

Here's another one that is more straightforward, well for a trick question:

There are two rooms, Room A and Room B.
No aspect of the other room can be perceived from either room.
You begin in Room A, and once you move to Room B you can not go back.
In Room A there are three light switches, labeled switch 1, switch 2, and switch 3.
One of the Light Switches controls a specific Light bulb in Room B.
Knowing that you cannot return to Room A, how do you discern which switch controls the light bulb?

Edit: forgot a line in my question. added it in.

flip switch 1, then unswitch it. flip switch 2 and proceed into room.
there are 3 states the bulb can be in.
off and hot, on, or off and cold corresponding to switch 1,2, and 3 respectively.

either that or just remove the face plate and look at/change the wiring.

[thubby]

I sometimes help with the "Science activity pin" for the local Cub Scout troop, I've done this example quite a few times. :smallbiggrin:
Normally I use a small votive candle, which I think is easier to work with than matches.


it's much easier to either drop the lit match into the glass then quickly flip it or to put something flammable in the glass if you dont have candles on hand.



And, while I agree with the principle, I'm sure there's an obscure branch of calculus that deals with infinite zeros... it'll be something to do with limits. I'm sure we could finagle the math around to make it work.


you mean integrating?
"dx" is literally an infinitely small section of line "x"

in math, a series does the opposite (kind of), it sums an infinite number of non-zero entities and arrives at a single, sometimes even whole, number.

[Flickerdart]

You are trapped in a room in the middle of nowhere. There are no apparent exits or entrances. The only items in the room are a mattress and a calendar. You must escape with provisions to return to somewhere.

What do you do?
I remove the tag from the mattress. Moments later, Miko Miyazaki bursts into the room, arrests me, and takes me back to Azure City for trial, where I am released without any charges because come on.

[RunicLGB]

I remove the tag from the mattress. Moments later, Miko Miyazaki bursts into the room, arrests me, and takes me back to Azure City for trial, where I am released without any charges because come on.

:smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

Ok here's the "answer":

Rip a hole in the matress and collect the springs to drink from later. Remove the dates from the calendar to eat later. Then leave through the hole you made.

I actually dislike those kind of questions, I just saw one when I first got on this thread and thought that's what it was about. Happy to see otherwise.

[Amidus Drexel]

you mean integrating?
"dx" is literally an infinitely small section of line "x"
--
in math, a series does the opposite (kind of), it sums an infinite number of non-zero entities and arrives at a single, sometimes even whole, number.

I feel like I should have been able to arrive at this conclusion myself... :smallredface:

..but th-
He's right, shut up.

Perhaps, but if you integrate a circle, you get a quarter of a sphere (assuming I'm remembering that correctly)... I need to go back and see where this started...

--

Hrm... interesting.

[thubby]

I feel like I should have been able to arrive at this conclusion myself... :smallredface:

..but th-
He's right, shut up.

Perhaps, but if you integrate a circle, you get a quarter of a sphere (assuming I'm remembering that correctly)... I need to go back and see where this started...

--

Hrm... interesting.

integrating a circle would just give you area (pi*r^2). which is somewhat coincidentally the 1/4 the surface area of a sphere.
the proof is an obnoxious and long integral, but spheres (and a few other shapes) have the odd property that the derivative of their volume is their surface area.

on to more trick questions!: well ok its a screwy math thing but bear with me.
image below
http://qntm.org/files/trollpi/piequals4.png
make sense of this

[Feytalist]

The problem is with the step "repeat to infinity".

Even repeated to infinity, the perimeter still won't be a circle, but a series of infinitely small jagged edges (a circle being defined as blah blah series of points equidistant from a single origin).

I'm not aware of any specific mathematical proof for this, unless you maybe fiddle around with limits somewhat, but it makes logical sense.

[factotum]

The question is implying that cutting corners out of a square like that will result in a circle, but it won't. I'm pretty sure what you'd end up with is actually an octagon--you can see the initial signs of that appearing even in the few steps carried out in the diagram; if they'd carried it on another step or two it would have become so obvious there would have been no "trick" left in the question.

[Douglas]

The problem is that, while the set of points converges to a circle, the set of edges does not.

[Deepbluediver]

The question is implying that cutting corners out of a square like that will result in a circle, but it won't. I'm pretty sure what you'd end up with is actually an octagon--you can see the initial signs of that appearing even in the few steps carried out in the diagram; if they'd carried it on another step or two it would have become so obvious there would have been no "trick" left in the question.

No, I think what we're going to end up with is something like an infinigon (I have no idea if this is a real term or not), a non-circular shape with an infinite number of edges and corners.

[Barsoom]

integrating a circle would just give you area (pi*r^2). which is somewhat coincidentally the 1/4 the surface area of a sphere.
the proof is an obnoxious and long integral, but spheres (and a few other shapes) have the odd property that the derivative of their volume is their surface area.

on to more trick questions!: well ok its a screwy math thing but bear with me.
image below
http://qntm.org/files/trollpi/piequals4.png
make sense of this

Congratulations, you have [re]discovered Manhattan Geometry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab_geometry)!

[factotum]

No, I think what we're going to end up with is something like an infinigon (I have no idea if this is a real term or not), a non-circular shape with an infinite number of edges and corners.

A circle can be considered a regular polygon with an infinite number of sides, but I don't think that's relevant here--it doesn't matter how many edges and corners the thing in this question ends up with, it won't even *look* like a circle, much less be one!

[thubby]

it's funny because that one actually works better on engineers. They are used to integrating for area.

[Hyde]

where did this circle absurdity come from?

place your cutting edge at a fixed point away from the center. Rotate. Done.

[Amidus Drexel]

integrating a circle would just give you area (pi*r^2). which is somewhat coincidentally the 1/4 the surface area of a sphere.
the proof is an obnoxious and long integral, but spheres (and a few other shapes) have the odd property that the derivative of their volume is their surface area.

on to more trick questions!: well ok its a screwy math thing but bear with me.
image below
http://qntm.org/files/trollpi/piequals4.png
make sense of this

Hrm? I meant integrating the area of a circle to get a volume. (which comes out to ((pi*r^3)/3)...). Although *looks up the formula for surface area* huh. Interesting.

Wait, pi isn't four? (a joke about blast radii in 3.5)

[Elemental]

Wait, pi isn't four? (a joke about blast radii in 3.5)

No, it's exactly three. Mathematicians claim otherwise in order to get research grants.
A joke that doesn't always work.

[mattie_p]

on to more trick questions!: well ok its a screwy math thing but bear with me.
image below
http://qntm.org/files/trollpi/piequals4.png
make sense of this

Does this help it make sense?

http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t467/pecklink/infinitepi_zps9f1c5888.png

[RebelRogue]

Congratulations, you have [re]discovered Manhattan Geometry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab_geometry)!
I jokingly refer to it as the 4E metric :smallbiggrin: