1. How would you weigh a jet plane without using scales?

2. Why are manhole covers round rather than square?

3. Why do mirrors reverse right and left instead of up and down?
4. Which way should the ey turn in a car door to unloc it?
!. Why is it that" when you turn on the hot water in a hotel" the hot water comes out instantly?
#. How do they mae $%$s?
&. 'f you are on a (oat and toss a suitcase over(oard" will the water level rise or fall?
). How many piano tuners are there in the world?
*. How many gas stations are there in the +nited ,tates?
1-. How much $ississippi .iver water flows past /ew 0rleans each hour?
11. What does all the ice in a hocey rin weigh?
12. 'f you could remove any of the fifty +.,. states" which would it (e?
13. How many points are there on the glo(e where" (y waling one mile south" one mile east" and
one mile north" you reach the place where you started?
14. How many times a day do a cloc1s hands overlap?
1!. $ie and 2odd have 321 (etween them. $ie has 32- more than 2odd. How much does each
have? 4ou can1t use fractions in the answer. ?
1#. 0n the average" how many times would you have to flip open the $anhattan phone (oo to
find a specific name?
1&. How do you cut a rectangular cae into two equal pieces when someone has already removed
a rectangular piece from it? 2he removed piece can (e pf any si5e or orientation. 4ou are
allowed just one straight cut.
1). How would you design 6ill 7ates1s (athroom?
1*. How would you design a microwave oven controlled (y a computer?
2-. How would you design the controls for a 89.?
21. :esign a remote control for a 8enetian (lind.
22. :esign a spice rac for a (lind person.
23. How would you test a saltshaer? ;< toaster? < teaettle? <n elevator?=
24. How would you locate a specific (oo in a (ig li(rary? 2here1s no cataloging system and no
li(rarian to help you.
2!. ,uppose you1re hired as an '., agent. 4our first jo( is to find out whether a nanny agency is
cheating on its ta>es. How would you do it?
2#. 4ou have eight (illiard (alls. 0ne of them is ?defective"? meaning that it weighs more than the
others. How do you tell" using a (alance" which (all is defective in two weighings?
2&. 4ou have five jars of pills. <ll the pills in one jar only are ?contaminated.? 2he only way to tell
which pills are contaminated is (y weight. < regular pill weighs 1- grams@ a contaminated pill is
* grams. 4ou are given a scale and allowed to mae just one measurement with it. How do you
tell which jar is contaminated?
2). 2here are three ants at the three corners of a regular triangle. Aach ant starts moving on a
straight line toward another" randomly chosen corner. What is the pro(a(ility that none of the
ants collide?
2*. 2here are four dogs" each at a corner of a large square. Aach of the dogs (egins chasing the
dog clocwise from it. <ll of the dogs run at the same speed. <ll continuously adjust their
direction so that they are always heading straight toward their clocwise neigh(or. How long
does it tae for the dogs to catch each other? Where does this happen?
3-. < train leaves Bos <ngeles for /ew 4or at a constant speed of 1! miles an hour. <t the same
moment" a train leaves /ew 4or for Bos <ngeles on the same trac. 't travels at a constant 2-
miles an hour. <t still the same moment" a (ird leaves the Bos <ngeles train station and flies
toward /ew 4or" following the trac" at a speed of 2! miles an hour. When it reaches the train
from /ew 4or" it instantly reverses direction. 't travels at the same speed until it reaches the
train from Bos <ngeles" when it reverses again" and so forth. 2he (ird flies (ac and forth
(etween the two trains until the very moment they collide. How far will the (ird have traveled?
31. 4ou have 2# constants" la(eled < through C. Bet < equal 1. 2he other constants have values
equal to the letter1s position in the alpha(et" raised to the power of the previous constant. 2hat
means that 6 Dthe second letterE F 2< F 21 F 2. 9 F 36 F 32 F *" and so on. Gind the e>act
numerical value for this e>pressionH DIJ<E K DIJ6E K DIJ9E K ... DIJ4EKDIJCE ? 9ount in (ase
negative 2.
32. 4ou have two jars and 1-- mar(les. Gifty of the mar(les are red" and !- are (lue. 0ne of the
jars will (e chosen at random@ then 1 mar(le will (e withdrawn from that jar at random. How do
you ma>imi5e the chance that a red mar(le will (e chosen? D4ou must place all 1-- mar(les in
the jars.E What is the chance of selecting a red mar(le when using your scheme?
33. 4ou have a 3Jquart (ucet" a !Jquart (ucet" and an infinite ?supply of water. How can you
measure out e>actly 4 quarts?
34. 0ne of your employees insists on (eing paid daily in gold. 4ou have a gold (ar whose value is
that of seven days1 salary for this employee. 2he (ar is already segmented into seven equal
pieces. 'f you are allowed to mae just two cuts in the (ar" and must settle with the employee
at the end of each day" how do you do it?
3!. 4ou have ( (o>es and n dollar (ills. ,eal the money in the (o>es so that" without thereafter
opening any (o>" you can give someone any requested whole amount of dollars" from - to n.
What are the restrictions on ( and n?
3#. 4ou have a (ucet of jelly (eans in three colors L red" green" and (lue. With your eyes closed"
you have to reach in the (ucet and tae out two jelly (eans of the same color. How many jelly
(eans do you have to tae to (e certain of getting two the same color?
3&. 4ou have three picnic (asets filled with fruit. 0ne has apples" one has oranges" and the third
has a mi>ture of apples and oranges. 4ou cannot see the fruit inside the (asets. Aach (aset
is clearly la(eled. Aach la(el is wrong. 4ou are permitted to close your eyes and pic one fruit
from one (aset" then e>amine it How can you determine what is in each (aset?
3). Avery man in a village of fifty couples has (een unfaithful to his wife. Avery woman in the
village instantly nows when a man other than her hus(and has philandered Dyou now how
small towns areE (ut not when her own hus(and has D?always the last to now?E. 2he village1s
no tolerance adultery statute requires that a woman who can prove her hus(and is unfaithful
must ill him that very day. /o woman would dream of diso(eying this law. 0ne day" the
queen" who is nown to (e infalli(le" visits the village. ,he announces that at least one
hus(and has (een unfaithful. What happens?
3*. <n evil demon captures a large" unspecified num(er of dwarfs. <t each dwarfs entry interview"
the demon plants a red or green gem in the dwarf1s forehead. 2he demon informs the new
recruit that he" the dwarf" has an unremova(le red or green jewel in his forehead@ that he" the
demon" is not going to tell him which color" nor will anyone else Dthe dwarfs are strictly
for(idden to speaE@ that one of the colors denotes sniveling company spies and the other
color denotes those particularly lucless captives who are not even sniveling company spies@
that the demon does not choose to tell him which color denotes which" nor will he tell him"
ever. And of entry interview. Avery day the dwarfs line up in formation so that the demon can
count them" just to mae sure no one has escaped. 0ne day the demon gets tired of the
dwarfs and decides to get rid of them. He announces that he will set the dwarfs free" provided
they all deduce the color of their gems. <s a hint" he tells them that there is at least one dwarf
with a red gem" and at least one with a green gem. 2o earn their collective freedom" the dwarfs
must signal wordlessly at the daily lineup. <ll of the dwarfs with red gems are to step one pace
forward" while the dwarfs with green gems remain (ehind. 'f they are correct" then all the
dwarfs are free to go (ac to their homes in the coal mines. 'f they are not correct" all the
dwarfs will (e slaughtered on the spot. 2he dwarfs are free to tae as long as they want to
determine the colors of their gems. 2hey are all perfectly logical" and all are dying to get (ac
to their homes. What should they do?
4-. Gour people must cross a ricety foot(ridge at night. $any plans are missing" and the (ridge
can hold only two people at a time Dany more than two" and the (ridge collapsesE. 2he
travelers must use a flashlight to guide their steps@ otherwise they1re sure to step through a
missing space and fall to their death. 2here is only one flashlight. 2he four people each travel
at different peeds. <dam can cross the (ridge in one minute@ Barry in two minutes@ Adge taes
five minutes@ and the slowest person" 6ono" needs ten minutes. 2he (ridge is going to collapse
in e>actly seventeen minutes. How can all four people cross the (ridge?
41. Why are (eer cans tapered at the top and (ottom?
42. How long would it tae to move $ount Guji?
43. 2here are three switches in a hallway. 0ne switch controls a light fi>ture in a room at the far
end of the hall. 2he door to the room is closed" and you can1t see whether the light is on or off.
4ou need to find out which of the three switches controls the light. How can you (e certain of
finding that out" maing just one trip to the room?
44. 4ou play this game with one other playerH ,tarting with an empty rectangular ta(le lie this one"
and an unlimited supply of quarters" each person taes a turn (y putting a quarter anywhere
on the ta(le. 2he rules say only that you must place your quarter so that it doesn1t touch any
quarter already on the ta(le. 4ou and your opponent tae turns placing quarters in succession"
until the ta(le is nearly full of quarters. 2he first player who is una(le to add a quarter without
touching a quarter already placed loses. 4ou move first. What strategy would you use to play
this game?
4!. Give pirates on an island have one hundred gold coins to split among themselves. 2hey divide
the loot as followsH 2he senior pirate proposes a division" and everyone votes on it. Mrovided at
least half the pirates vote for the proposal" they split the coins that way. 'f not" they ill the
senior pirate and start over. 2he most senior DsurvivingE pirate proposes his own division plan"
and they vote (y the same rules and either divide the loot or ill the senior pirate" as the case
may (e. 2he process continues until one plan is accepted. ,uppose you are the senior pirate.
What division do you propose? D2he pirates are all e>tremely logical and greedy" and all want
to live.E
4#. < high school has this ritual on the last day of schoolH 2he students go into the hall and stand
(y their closed locers. <t the first (low of a whistle" the students open every locer. <t the
second whistle" the students close every sec ond locer Dlocers 2"4"#" etc." are slammed
shutE. <t the third whistle" the students toggle every third locer. 2o ?toggle? means to close it if
it1s open" and to open it if it1s closed. 2hey toggle locers 3"#"*" etc <t whistle four" they toggle
every fourth locer. <t whistle five" they toggle every fifth locer" and so on. Bet1s mae things
easy and say it1s a small school with only 1-- locers. <t the one hundredth whistle" the
student standing ne>t to locer 1-- Dand only that studentE toggles his locer. How many
locers are then open?
4&. 4ou have two lengths of fuse. Aach will (urn for e>actly one hour. 6ut the fuses are not
necessarily identical and do not (urn at a constant rate. 2here are fastJ(urning sections and
slowJ(urning sections. How do you measure fortyJfive minutes using only the fuses and a
lighter?
4). 4ou are in a (oat in the e>act center of a perfectly circular lae. 2here is a go(lin on the shore
of the lae. 2he go(lin wants to do (ad things to you. 2he go(lin can1t swim and doesn1t have a
(oat. Mrovided you can mae it to the shore L and the go(lin isn1t there" waiting to gra( you L
you can always outrun him oir land and get away. 2he pro(lem is thisH 2he go(lin can run four
times as fist as the ma>imum speed of your (oat. He has perfect eyesight" never sleeps" and is
e>tremely logical. He will do everything in his power to catch you. How would you escape the
go(lin?
4*. :oes the sun always rise in the east?
!-. 4ou1ve got si> matchstics. <rrange them so they form four equilateral triangles.