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Riddles with a Prize, by Mantus Anchors

13K views 93 replies 32 participants last post by  ebs001 
#1 ·
Ok here are the rules: I will post the riddle and the first person to answer the riddle correctly gets to win a Stainless Steel Mantus Hook with free shipping.
We will try it this week and see how it goes,,,

Ok so here is the riddle:

There are three switches downstairs. Each corresponds to one of the three light bulbs in the attic. You can turn the switches on and off and leave them in any position.
How would you identify which switch corresponds to which light bulb, if you are only allowed one trip upstairs?

Post the answer on this thread first and win a Mantus Chain Hook!
 

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#44 ·
Ok the prize for this Riddle is a 8 lbs dinghy anchor or a Mantus Chain Hook for your size chain
PS sorry the delay, we will try to stick with Mondays as promised ;)

BUYING BERRIES

BERRIES ARE POPULAR WITH CRUISERS! ONE THIS LUSH TROPICAL ISLAND, A BEAUTY FULL LADY/CHAP SELLS YOU 1000 KG OF FRESH BERRIES. THE BERRIES CONTAIN 99% WATER WHEN FRESH, BUT A FEW DAYS LATER A TEST SHOES THAT THERE WAS ONLY 98% WATER, DUE TO THE DRYING OF THE BERRIES.
WHAT DO THE BERRIES WEIGH NOW?
 

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#45 ·
Hmmm... I'll have a go.

10kg must be 2% of the weight (not the water). Therefore, the berries weigh 500kg now. I think.

If 99% by weight is water and the berries weigh 1000kg, then the water weighed 990kg and the non water portion of the berries was 1kg.

Thus the partially dried berries (i.e. only some of the water was removed) were 98% water by weight, then we would get the following formula:

Xkg = 98% of Xkg + 10kg
X = 0.98X + 10
0.02 X = 10
X = 10 / 0.02
X = 500

My brain hurts. My caffeine level is low. I probably missed a decimal point.....

So the berries weigh 500 kgs now yes? That's my final answer!

MedSailor
 
#47 ·
There are so many ways to answer such a loosley put question.

The simplest solution is to go upstairs, make that one trip to the attic, and stay there while my apprentice throws the three switches in sequence. Every electrician has an apprentice.

If my apprentice has done something foolish like die on the job, I can still do the job solo. I plug 3 cheap radios into the three light bulb sockets, using the socket plug adapter that everyone has in their toolbox. #1 is tuned to classical, #3 to rock, #3 to talk radio. As I turn on each switch, I note which station starts playing.

And if all the radio stations have gone off the air, I just wait until nighfall. I look out the window while turning on the lights, and note which window, which light, has turned on with each switch.

SO many solutions, Mantus! As Aerosmith sang, Toys in the Attic! Toys!
 
#50 ·
A little Abiguous

If you define the berry mass as the actual mass of the Berry solids (completely dehydrated), then the berry mass never changes, 10kg, no matter what the water content is. If the berry includes water mass, then MedSailor has the correct answer; 500 kg.
 
#51 · (Edited)
berry pulp plus water is 1000kg 100% .99% water, rest is 10kg of pulp.So 100% of water is990kg and a 1% loss of that is 9.9kg. So the now drying berries weigh 9.9 kg less than when fresh. 990.1 kg of second class product. Top up or renegotiate the price or both. What would the average cruiser do with that many berries?
 
#56 ·
Julie, you'd be surprised at what a rooster can do with the proper encouragement! Med , Ive spent many summers picking blackberries up the coast to produce 15 or 20 gallons of vino (with some considerable success) This year I'm working my way through 30 gallons of rhubarb/ orange/ginger. Welcome to sample if you come this way.
 
#58 ·
I'll take you up on that for sure! We have tonnes of backberries down here as well. I may have to do that next year....

I'll trade you some samples of my home brewed beer. I've managed to perfect the process of brewing really good beer, with a minimum of equipment, on the boat. :)

MedSaillor
 
#57 ·
Very interesting responses guys! But Med Sailor takes it......
500 kg is the right answer...

1% dry stuff = 10 kg and 99%= 990 kg water
2% dry stuff = 10 kg and 98%= 490 kg water thus total weight is 500 Kg

Thank you for playing and I will see you guys Monday....
 
#61 ·
The Jack in the Box
Jack weighs m
Box weighs M

So if you depress the head of the Jack and release it suddenly, it will pop up because of the spring between the Jack and the bottom of the box. How much force is required to depress the Jack so that both the Jack and the Box will jump up into the air? The mass of the Jack is m and the mass of the Box is M and the weight of the spring is negligible.
The spring is regular linear spring....

The PRIZE is MANTUS CHAIN HOOK that fits your chain size....
 

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#62 ·
If I recall my phsyics you are requiring or ignoring any number of unbounded assumptions about the nature of the spring itself. So with your unspoken indication that unbounded assumptions are the key to the answer, I can firmly state that no amount of force will ever be sufficient to make the box pop up into the air, as both the box and Jack are hovering in a zero-gravity LaGrange point in earth-lunar orbit. Without an operational gravity field being specified, any force "down" on the spring will simply repel the entire box, Jack and all, away from the pusher, out of the LaGrange point, and eventually to a violent death as it falls into a gravity well and plunges into the surface below, or bursts into flames en route.
 
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