MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

In this thread, we will dedicate discussion to various riddles/puzzles/problems.

Next riddle:


Three men begin atop a mountain slope during a snowy night. Each man sits on top of their own flatbed cart on wheels (think Bugs Bunny cartoon, here). One of the men, Man #3, however, is stationed within a mountain tunnel, where no snow can pass through. Each man/cart is identical in every way, and their distances down to the bottom of the slope is the same. Each cart, at time 0, has no snow. They all start to go down the slope. Man #1 decides to sleep and does not do anything about the snow that falls onto his cart. Man #2 is constantly sweeping off snow that lands on his cart perpendicular to the direction of motion. Man #3, in the tunnel, obviously does nothing as he has no snow. Assume negligible friction, and assume no air drag or drag from midair snow -- all that matters here is the mass of any snow on the cart. Who makes it down to the bottom of the slope first, second, and third, and why?



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Shash, Soulstone, and Laggy are out in the woods chopping trees for wood for a campfire. Shash brings back 6 logs, while Soulstone brings back 4 logs. However, later that night, Laggy admits he didn't collect any wood. However, he has 10 coins he is willing to distribute between both Shash and Soulstone if they let him share in the campfire. How does he distribute the coins between the two in a fair and equitable way? (you have to explain your logic)

HINT: The answer is not 6 and 4 to Shash and Soulstone.


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Emerald, Fractal_Monkey, and Tass need to get to a location 30 miles away. Emerald and Fractal both walk at speeds of 3 mph each, but on a bike, they both go 5 mph. Tass can walk at 5 mph, but on a bike, he can go 15 mph. However, they only have one bike, and only one person can use the bike at any time. What is the shortest amount of time required to get all three of them to the location 30 miles away? What is your strategy?






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Here's one to get you started.

Imagine that the hour and minute hands of a clock are the same length. Imagine, also, that I am able to read the hands with 100% certainty (meaning I can tell EXACTLY how far the hour/minute hands have moved).

How many times exist over a 12 hour period where, if I were to look at the clock, I'd be unable to tell you what time it was?

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Is this for the 24hrs, or 12hrs?

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Stop ban evading rubix.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

11 over the course of 12 hours. 22 in one day if you can differentiate between AM and PM. The minute hand will do 12 circuits in the time it takes for the hour hand to do one, so the hands overlap every 12/11 of an hour, or every 65.4545... minutes.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

That can't be right, because if there were an X amount of times he couldn't tell, then there would be 2 times that are exact hand-minute positions. So, the total would be even.

Edit: Also, does it matter where the second is?

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

you can also tell if its 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 etc.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

There is no second hand. Only a minute and hour hand. However, you can read the hands with perfect certainty (e.g. "The hour hand has moved X degrees and the minute hand has moved Y degrees").

Furthermore, mind you, the clock hands move as an actual clock hands would move. So, you can't say that 3:00 is indistinguishable from 12:15 because the hour hand would have moved slightly at the latter time.

BTW: 22 times in 24 hours = incorrect

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Is the answer 24?

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

No

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

To make this more clear, I've changed the question to ask about a 12-hour period (so you don't need to distinguish between am and pm)

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

How about 72 and a half?

Also rubix, I love how they stopped banning your multiple accounts.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

6? =/

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

You can never tell us the time if you can't distinguish between the two hands.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

4 times?

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Guys if you're going to just guess random numbers, I'm not going to say whether or not they are correct, lol. You have to explain your thought process.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Okay, I made a chart, and none of the hand-minute angles corresponded, so I'll say you can always tell exactly what time it is.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Itmorr is correct. If the hands are identical, then you can't distinguish what time it is. Of course, if you are constantly watching the clock, you will be able to tell the difference, but seeing as you said when you can't read it, you obviously aren't watching it constantly.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

Incorrect

If I said the hands looked like this:

|
|
|_____

What time would you tell me that is?

I'm prolly wrong but, I'll guess 0 times. My reasoning is that you're 100% certain of what time it is all the time and if you're 100% certain, how can you ever be wrong?

EDIT: Whoa, I was like quadruple ninjad.

I'll just edit a new answer cuz my first one was wrong... This time I won't get ninjad.

I don't really understand half the riddle, are you watching it at all times? Do you have the ability to distinguish a minute from an hour in your head. There are a lot of variables in this, but I'll go with a completely opposite answer than I did last time. I hope I don't have to come up with a number, cuz frankly I don't want to do the math.

My answer is you will be unable to tell every time except for the following times:
1:05, 2:10, 3:15, 4:20, 5:25, 6:30, 7:35, 8:40, 9:45, 10:50, 11:55, 12:00, 1:55, 2:50, 3:45, 4:40, 5:35, 6:30, 7:25, 8:20, 9:15, 10:10, 11:05. DAMMIT AND EVERY FRIGGEN OTHER TIME IN BETWEEN!

My reasoning on the 1:55 to 11:05 is because you can tell by the location of the hands. In the instance of 1:55. It's impossible for it to be 11:05 if the hand on the 11 side is so close to the 12. See img.


MIRITE?

I still have a feeling I'm forgetting a few things. I don't expect this to be right, but I do expect it to be partially right.

K I think I'm done. lol


ugh no I'm not! I HATE YOU RUBIX BLOW MY BRAIN UP WILL YA!?!!?!? K editing still. I have a new answer even.

Okay final answer: You can always tell unless the hands of the clock make a perfect 180˚ angle.

Gimme my million dollars, Regis. I'm about 98% on this. The other 2% suggests that you're Rubix and any riddle you might have is way out of my league.


P.S. My frontal lobe melted in the process of making this post.
P.P.S. I never deleted anything to show you my thought process.

Re: MrRubix's Riddle Thread
 

You're 100% certain about the hand positions. From the positions, you deduce the time.