Problems

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Found: 859

There are 4 weights and scales. How many loads that are different by weight can be accurately weighed using these weights, if

a) weights can be placed only on one side of the scales;

b) weights can be placed on both sides of the scales?

Will thought of a number: 1, 2 or 3. You can ask him only one question, to which he can answer “yes”, “no” or “I do not know”. Can you guess the number by asking just one question?

The following words/sounds are given: look, yar, yell, lean, lease. Determine what will happen if the sounds that make up these words are pronounced in reverse order.

In the entry \({*} + {*} + {*} + {*} + {*} + {*} + {*} + {*} = {*}{*}\) replace the asterisks with different digits so that the equality is correct.

A chequered strip of \(1 \times N\) is given. Two players play the game. The first player puts a cross into one of the free cells on his turn, and subsequently the second player puts a nought in another one of the cells. It is not allowed for there to be two crosses or two noughts in two neighbouring cells. The player who is unable to make a move loses.

Which of the players can always win (no matter how their opponent played)?

Peter marks several cells on a \(5 \times 5\) board. His friend, Richard, will win if he can cover all of these cells with non-overlapping corners of three squares, that do not overlap with the border of the square (you can only place the corners on the squares). What is the smallest number of cells that Peter should mark so that Richard cannot win?

A pack of 36 cards was placed in front of a psychic face down. He calls the suit of the top card, after which the card is opened, shown to him and put aside. After this, the psychic calls out the suit of the next card, etc. The task of the psychic is to guess the suit as many times as possible. However, the card backs are in fact asymmetrical, and the psychic can see in which of the two positions the top card lies. The deck is prepared by a bribed employee. The clerk knows the order of the cards in the deck, and although he cannot change it, he can prompt the psychic by having the card backs arranged in a way according to a specific arrangement. Can the psychic, with the help of such a clue, ensure the guessing of the suit of

a) more than half of the cards;

b) no less than 20 cards?

Every day, James bakes a square cake size \(3\times3\). Jack immediately cuts out for himself four square pieces of size \(1\times1\) with sides parallel to the sides of the cake (not necessarily along the \(3\times3\) grid lines). After that, Sarah cuts out from the rest of the cake a square piece with sides, also parallel to the sides of the cake. What is the largest piece of cake that Sarah can count on, regardless of Jack’s actions?