Problem: Sailor Cat needs to bring a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage across the river. The boat is tiny and can only carry one passenger at a time. If he leaves the wolf and the goat alone together, the wolf will eat the goat. If he leaves the goat and the cabbage alone together, … Read More →
8 Balls Puzzle
Problem: You have 8 balls. One of them is defective and weighs less than others. You have a balance to measure balls against each other. In 2 weighing, how do you find the defective one? Solution: Defective ball is light Make three Groups G1 – 3 balls G2 – 3 balls G3 – 2 balls First weight- … Read More →
100 Prisoners and a Light bulb
Problem: There are 100 prisoners are in solitary cells, unable to see, speak or communicate in any way with each other. There’s a central living room with one light bulb, the bulb is initially off. No prisoner can see the light bulb from his own cell. Everyday, the warden picks a prisoner at random, and … Read More →
Sand Timer Puzzle
This Puzzle is one of the most commonly asked interview puzzle. Problem: You have two sand timers with you. One can measure 7 minutes and the other sand timer can measure 11 minutes. This means that it takes 7 minutes for the sand timer to completely empty the sand from one portion to the other. … Read More →
3 Doors and Angel
Problem : You are given a choice of three doors by an Angel. You can choose only one of the doors among the three. Out of these three doors two contains nothing and one has a jackpot. After you choose one of the doors angel reveals one of the other two doors behind which there … Read More →
3 Mislabeled Jars
Puzzle: This problem is also called Jelly Beans problem. This is the most commonly asked interview puzzle. You have 3 jars that are all mislabeled. One jar contains Apple, another contains Oranges and the third jar contains a mixture of both Apple and Oranges. You are allowed to pick as many fruits as you want … Read More →
3 Doors and Heaven
Problem: A person dies, and he arrives at the gate to heaven. There are 3 doors in the heaven. One of the door leads to heaven, second one leads to a 1-day stay at hell and then back to the gate and the third one leads to a 2 day stay at hell and then … Read More →
3 Bulbs and 3 Switches
This puzzle is perhaps not as ‘pure’ as the others, it doesn’t reduce to a mathematical model. But it is quite a common question asked in interviews so it’s worth looking at it… Problem: You are in a room with 3 switches which correspond to 3 bulbs in another room and you don’t know which … Read More →
100 Doors Puzzle
Puzzle: : You have 100 doors in a row that are all initially closed. you make 100 passes by the doors starting with the first door every time. the first time through you visit every door and toggle the door (if the door is closed, you open it, if its open, you close it). the … Read More →
Boys and Girls
Question: In a country where everyone wants a boy, each family continues having babies till they have a boy. After some time, what is the proportion of boys to girls in the country? (Assuming probability of having a boy or a girl is the same) Answer: “very simple”. Half the couples have boys first, and … Read More →
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