Snap Like Nuts: 10 Short Problems You Don't Have to Think About

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A selection that will help the brain turn on and warm up.

– 1 –

Kolya, Sasha and Lyosha were fishing. Each of them caught a different number of fish. Sasha and Kolya fished out six of them together, Lyosha and Kolya - four. How many fish did Lyosha catch?

Each of the guys caught a different number of fish. This means that Lyosha and Kolya could have fished out someone one, and someone three fish. If Kolya got three pieces, then Sasha would receive the same, and this contradicts the condition. This means that Lyosha caught three fish, Kolya - one, and Sasha - five.

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– 2 –

A part is turned from a metal blank. The chips from the eight parts can be remelted to create another piece. How many parts can you make with 64 blanks at the start?

64 parts can be machined from 64 blanks. The resulting chips can be remelted into 64 ÷ 8 = 8 parts. When making them, one more detail will turn out. In total, 64 + 8 + 1 = 73 parts will be released.

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– 3 –

One eraser, two pencils and three notepads cost 380 rubles. Three erasers, two pencils and one notebook cost 220 rubles. What is the price of a set of eraser, pencil and notepad?

Four erasers, four pencils and four notepads cost 380 + 220 = 600 rubles. This means that the price of one set of accessories is 600 ÷ 4 = 150 rubles.

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– 4 –

The aliens told the earthlings that there are three planets in their star system: A, B, C. They live on the second planet. Then the signal worsened, but two more messages were received, which, as scientists have established, are both false:

A is not the third planet from the star;

B is the second planet.

What is the name of the planet on which the aliens live?

Since the two received messages from aliens are false, their meaning must be reversed. Here's what you get:

A - the third planet from the star;

B is not a second planet.

This means that the second planet will be B, on which the aliens live.

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– 5 –

The boy and the piglet weigh about five crates. A piglet weighs as much as four cats. Two cats and a piglet weigh as much as three crates. How many cats will balance a boy?

A piglet weighs as much as four cats. Two cats and a piglet weigh as much as three crates. So six cats weigh as much as three crates. From this it becomes clear that two cats weigh as much as one box, and one piglet weighs as two boxes. Therefore, the boy weighs like three boxes, six cats will balance him.

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– 6 –

Two excavators will dig a ditch 2 m long in 2 hours of work. How many excavators do you need to make a 5 m ditch in 5 hours?

The result of excavators' work per hour is 1 m of a ditch. This means that in 5 hours the same two excavators will dig a 5-meter ditch.

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– 7 –

The watch with the hands is 6 minutes behind every day. How many days later will they show the correct time again?

The clock lags behind every day by 6 minutes, at 1 hour 60 minutes. Let's calculate how many days the clock will lag behind by 1 hour: 60 ÷ 6 = 10 days. The watch with hands has 12 divisions. Let's find out how many days it will take for them to be 12 hours behind: 12 × 10 = 120 days. After this period, the clock will start showing the correct time again.

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– 8 –

Three friends met: Belov, Chernov and Ryzhov. “The hair of one of us is white, the other is black, the third is red, but no one has a hair color that matches the last name,” said the black-haired man. “You're right,” Belov confirmed. What kind of hair does anyone have?

Belov confirmed the words of the black-haired, therefore, his own hair is red, not black (it cannot be white by condition). Chernov's hair cannot be red or black, which means it is white. Then Ryzhov is the owner of black hair.

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– 9 –

The news reached the tsar that one of the three heroes had killed the Serpent Gorynych. The king ordered them to appear at the court. The heroes said:

Ilya Muromets: "The snake was killed by Dobrynya Nikitich."

Dobrynya Nikitich: "Alyosha Popovich killed the snake."

Alyosha Popovich: "I killed the snake."

It is known that only one hero told the truth, and two cheated. Who killed the snake?

Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich said the same thing and were deceiving. Ilya Muromets told the truth. According to him, the killer of the snake is Dobrynya Nikitich.

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– 10 –

The brother had six 200-ruble bills, and the sister had 10, 300 rubles each. How many of her bills should a sister give to her brother so that they have equal money?

The brother has only 6 × 200 = 1,200 rubles, the sister has 10 × 300 = 3,000 rubles. Let x be the amount that the sister should give to her brother. Let's make an equation and solve it: 3000 - x = 1200 + x; 2 x = 1 800; x = 900. To make the money equal, the sister must give her brother 900 rubles, or three 300-ruble bills.

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The conditions and answers are taken from the collection "Problems that everyone can solve" by A. Krylov and A. Butenko, as well as from the Small Mechanics and Mathematics Department of Moscow State University.