Count the Squares - Problems like this have solutions in algorithms, and are similar to problems computer scientists

might face - A lot of computer science is about taking a very complex problem and breaking it down into simpler problems such as this one which we understand and can be solved

All right So why isn!t the answer "# or even "$ %ell, there!s one giant square, & 'x' squares, ( )x) squares, and "# "x" squares

*ou don!t really want to do this, do you$ Alright, lets look at the small grid again

+ow can you go back to the larger grid and figure out the answer$

*ou have three boxes ,ne contains -ust cheetos, one contains -ust candy bars, and one contains both cheetos and candy bars .here was a mistake in the warehouse, and each box is properly mislabeled /or example, the box labeled with cheetos cannot contain -ust cheetos0 1t either has -ust candy bars or both cheetos and candy bars in it *ou don!t want to open up all of the boxes, so you decide to pick one item out of one box to figure out what each box has in it %hich box do you choose and why$

Solution2 *ou pick box 3 3ox 3 is labeled with both cheetos and candy bars %e know that it must contain -ust cheetos or -ust candy bars 1f you pick candy bars out of 3ox 3, you have -ust cheetos and both cheetos and candy bars left for your choices for 3oxes A and C 3ox A is labeled -ust cheetos 1t has to be one of your two remaining choices, so it is both cheetos and candy bars 3ox C is the only 3ox left now, so it is -ust cheetos

8 x 8 Queens problem
In chess a queen can move diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. Furthermore, it can go as far as it wants to in any single move. The challenge of the 8x8 queens problem is how can you place 8 queens on an ordinary chess board so that no queen can hit any other queen in ! move" .

Truth and Lies

#s everyone $nows, $nights tell the truth all the time, and liars lie all the time. #t least, this is what evenly behaved $nights and liars do. %ess $nown is that there are also odd $nights, who on odd&numbered days lie all the time. '(n even&numbered days, however, they behave evenly, and tell the truth.) #lso, there are odd liars, who on odd&numbered days, tell the truth about everything, while they lie the rest of the days. *omeone said+ Today,s the -rd. Trust me, I,m telling the truth. I,m odd. I,m not a $night. .y eyes are brown. #t first, this seemed illogical, and I thought he couldn,t be either a $night or a liar, even or odd, but after a while the solution dawned on me and I found the error in my reasoning. /hat is he"

Black and White Hats

Three people are standing in line and all are loo$ing in the same direction. That is, person - '0-) can see person 1 '01) and person ! '0!). 01 can see 0!, but not 0-. 0! can see neither 01 nor 0-. 2ow consider the following+ all of the people $now that there exist 3 hats. They $now that hats are blac$ and 1 are white. They all $now that each of them is wearing a hat. #ssume 0!, 01, and 0- are perfect logicians and hear one another spea$. First, 0- says, I don't know what color my hat is. Then, 01 says, I don't know what color my hat is. 2ow it,s 0!,s turn. 4udging by what he heard 0- and 01 say, do you thin$ 0! $nows the color of his hat" If so, what is it"

Lightbulbs
There are - lightbulbs on the 5 th floor. There are 1 light switches in the basement. They are connected to 1 different of the - lightbulbs on the 5 th floor. 6ou can only ma$e ! trip from the basement to the 5th floor. 6ou start in the basement. 7pon ma$ing your trip to the 5 th floor, you should $now which light switch goes to which lightbulb and which of the lightbulbs does not have a switch in the basement.

Guppies
6ou have a bowl with 188 fish in it. (f these fish 99: are not guppies. how many fish should you remove so that 1: of what remains are guppies" *uppose you can distinguish guppies from non&guppies.

Oh no! Volcano!
There are four people 'a,b,c,d) behind whom a volcano is erupting. They can get to safety if they cross a bridge that,s right in front of them. They have !; minutes to cross the bridge before the lava consumes them and the bridge 'they have to be completely across the bridge after !; minutes or they fall to an unpleasant death). The bridge can only hold 1 people at a time. #lso, it is dar$, so they must cross the bridge with a flashlight, but they only have ! for the whole group. .oreover, they all wal$ at different paces. It ta$es them !, 1, 3, and !8 minutes to cross the bridge respectively, and if 1 people cross at the same time, they wal$ at the pace of the slower person. <an they all cross the bridge before they are fed alive to the fiery gods of the volcano" If so how" If not, why"

ra!t" #athematicians
# mathematician meets another mathematician in a store. =ere is their dialogue+ $+ =ow have you been" B+ >reat? *ince we last tal$ed, I,ve gotten married and had - $ids $+ @eally, how old are they" B+ The product of their ages is ;1 and the sum of their ages is the same as the number of that building over there. $+ @ight, o$... (h wait... =mm, I still don,t $now. B+ (h sorry. The oldest one Aust started to play the piano. $+ That,s great? .y oldest is the same age Can you tell how old mathematician B's kids are? If so, how old are they? If not, why?

Let #e Out!
*omehow you find yourself in a room with 1 identical doors. (ne will lead you into an endless maze that will surely result in your death, the other will ta$e you to freedom and happiness. 6ou must choose one of the doors eventually because if you stay in the room, you will starve to death. In the room there are 1 identical tal$ing birds, one always lies the other always tells the truth. 6ou may as$ only one of the birds only one simple question. This cannot be a complex sentence with lots of conAunctions. /ill you ever get out of the room" If so, what question should you as$" If not, then why"

%sland #adness
# group of people live on an island. They are all perfect logicians. 2o one $nows the color of their eyes. Bvery night at midnight, a ferry stops at the island. If anyone has figured out the color of their own eyes, they CmustD leave the island that midnight. (n this island live !88 blue&eyed people, !88 brown&eyed people, and the >uru. The >uru has green eyes, and does not $now her own eye color either. Bveryone on the island $nows the rules 'but are not given the total numbers) and is constantly aware of everyone else,s eye color. Bveryone $eeps a constant count of the total number they see of each 'excluding themselves). =owever, they cannot otherwise communicate. *o any given blue&eyed person can see !88 people with brown eyes and 99 people with blue eyes, but that does not tell them their own eye colorE it could be !8! brown and 99 blue. (r !88 brown, 99 blue, and the one could have red eyes. The >uru spea$s only once 'let,s say at noon), on one day in all their endless years on the island. *tanding before the islanders, she says the following+ I can see someone with blue eyes. /ho leaves the island, and on what night"

T&o Brothers
#n #rab shei$ is old and must will his fortune to one of his two sons. =e ma$es a proposition. =is two sons will ride their camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish line last will win the fortune for its owner. Furing the race, the two brothers wander aimlessly for days, neither willing to cross the finish line. In desperation, they as$ a wise man for advice. =e tells them somethingE then the brothers leap onto the camels and charge toward the finish line. /hat did the wise man say"

Bag o! Balls
This one is tricky, be careful 6ou have a bag of 38 blue balls 'call this bag B) and a bag of 38 red balls 'call this bag R). %ittle mischievous Gobby comes by and mixes the two bags by doing the following+ =e first grabs a handful of balls from the R bag and throws them into the Bbag. 2ext, he grabs a handful of the balls from the B bag and throws them into the R bag. =e does this times, then giggles and runs away. /hen you come bac$, which of your bags is more pure & that is, which bag contains a higher concentration of balls of its original color"