There are two hourglasses – one for 7 minutes and another for 11 minutes. An egg is boiled for 15 minutes. How can this time be measured with the help of the available hourglasses?
The farmer must transport across a river a wolf, a goat and a cabbage. The boat accommodates one person, and with him/her either a wolf, a goat, or a cabbage. If you leave the goat and the wolf unattended, the wolf will eat the goat. If you leave cabbage and goat without supervision, the goat will eat the cabbage. How can the farmer transport his cargo across the river?
There is a 12-litre barrel filled with beer, and two empty kegs of 5 and 8 litres. Try using these kegs to:
a) divide the beer into two parts of 3 and 9 litres;
b) divide the beer into two equal parts.
In an apartment building in which there are only married couples with children, a population census was carried out. The person who conducted the census stated in the report: “There are more adults in the building than children. Each boy has a sister and there are more boys than girls. There are no childless families.” This report was incorrect. Why?
There are scales without weights and 3 identical in appearance coins, one of which is fake: it is lighter than the real ones (the real coins are of the same weight). How many weightings are needed to determine the counterfeit coin? Solve the same problem in the cases where there are 4 coins and 9 coins.
We have scales without weights and 3 identical in appearance coins. One of the coins is fake, and it is not known whether it is lighter or heavier than the real coins (note that all real coins are of the same weight). How many weighings are needed to determine the counterfeit coin? Solve the same problem in the cases where there are 4 coins and 9 coins.
On a table five coins are placed in a row: the middle coin shows heads and the rest show tails. It is allowed to turn over three adjacent coins simultaneously. Is it possible to get all five coins to show heads after turning the coins over several times?
Jack the goldminer extracted 9 kg of golden sand. Will he be able to measure 2 kg of sand in three goes with the help of scales: a) with two weights of 200 g and 50 g; b) with one weight of 200 g?
In one move, it is permitted to either double a number or to erase its last digit. Is it possible to get the number 14 from the number 458 in a few moves?
From a set of weights with masses 1, 2, ..., 101 g, a weight of 19 grams was lost. Can the remaining 100 weights be divided into two piles of 50 weights each in such a way that the masses of both piles are the same?