Riddle me this, Tease your brain! Options

[Yoda]

can you load the scales one rod at a time?

*think, think, think*

[Goatman]

no
1 weighing only

[QuickHare]

Ok. Maths time.

Assume you pick up n rods, it will weigh either (1) 10n pounds or (2) 10n+10 pounds. If you pick up a rod, if it weighs (1), then the next rod could make the equation either (1) or (2). If you're using (2), then the next rod picked up will keep the equation as (2).

So, the question is, when does the equation change from (1) to (2)? Well, you can only weigh once, and so if you weighed it after one rod, the chances are 10-1 it is gold. If you weigh after two rods, then you have a 10-2 (or 5-1) chance the gold is included on the scales, but you don't know which is the rod we want.

Now, basically, I am stuck. Without some kind of further weighing, there is no way to tell.


I still say the answer is pick up one rod, weigh it. Hold it in one hand and pick another up in the other. You can detect a difference of 10lbs (5kg), surely?

*in a mad temper, QuickHare picks up the rods and throws them at the wall. He finds one hole is bigger than the others and finds the gold rod, which is then banked and the money spent very quickly!*

[Goatman]

it seems there is a small misconception:
there were ten rods, 9 lead and 1 gold. They are all then cut into ten smaller pices, giving us 100 indentical little pieces. All the little rods that were once attached are still together like so:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l l

So ten of these small pieces are gold.
by taking only some of the small rods, one can figure out which of the coloumns is the gold one.

hint: there is a total weight here of 110 pounds- 90 for the lead pieces and 20 for the gold.


good luck

[Yoda]

just quickly, I'm assuming they were repainted after cutting otherwise you could see the difference in the colour on the ends of the individual pieces, yes?

[Goatman]

yes

[Goatman]

here is the answer:

if u take 1 from the first coloumn, 2 from the second, 3 from third, etc. u will have 55 little pieces on the scale. the least possible weight is 56 lbs cause there is only 1 gold piece. the highest possible weight is 65 lbs cause there are ten pieces. So by lokking at weight we can see how many pieces of gold are there and thus figures out which coloumn was made of gold!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hockeygod]

Ooh, thats really clever.

Now who will post the next mind-numbing brain bender?

[QuickHare]

Aha! This is not meant to be a pun, but you weigh the weights, then whichever column it's in, that how many times the total weight will exceed the minimum. It's a similar thing in ISBN numbers in books, or barcodes to detect errors.

Anyway, on with a new riddle? I'm known for really tough ones which no-one wants to answer. Therefore, here's an easier one.

What row of numbers comes next?
2
12
1112
3112
132112
1113122112
311311222112
??????????????

(clue: the length of the question marks shows the length of the answer)

[Cristin]

This answer makes sense to me, but I may be the only one:

131131112222112

[hockeygod]

I think it might have too many digits though. I think you put in an extra two. If thats the case, then it could work.

[Willow]

I think Cristin is right. If was online i would have got it! Actually...only because there's a riddle thread on another forum and i saw it a couple of weeks ago...

[Jerry]

I think it's

'13211321322112'.

However, being that it's after 1:00 A.M. and I'm working/procrastinating on a really boring paper, I may be totally off.

[QuickHare]

Sorry I was away for so long.

Sorry, Cristin and Willow, that answer isn't quite right. Jerry, on the other hand, managed to get it at about 1am.

So, what was it?
Well, each row describes the row above it. For example, "1" is described as "One 1", or "11". "11" is then described as "Two 1s", or "21". Now it gets a bit trickier as you string the descriptions together, so "21" is "One 2, One 1" or "1211", which is "One 1, One 2, Two 1s" or "111221", etc.

"311311222112" is therefore *sharp intake of breath*
One 3, Two 1s, One 3, Two 1s, Three 2s, Two 1s, One 2
or 13211321322112

Which Jerry got.


So, Jerry, please take to the mic stand and belt out your opera of a riddle.

[Jerry]

I wish I can, but in the midst of finals, the only opera that I'll belt out is a stress-filled scream

Anyone can take the next one.