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John123 loves solving puzzles at PuzzleFry.com. I am proud PuzzleFry member and like my time invested in solving brain teasers.
  • First thought which comes to our mind is to use binary search, we first drop Egg#1 from 50th floor, if it does not break, then try the middle of second half, if breaks then we have to try each floor in first half. But this will give worst case number of drops as 50(if it brakes on 50th floor, then we have to try from 1 to 49 floors sequentially).

    Second thought is to try xth floor then 2xth floor till 100th, in this case worst case time will be (100/x)+(x-1). worst case will be when Egg #1 breaks at 100th floor then we have to try Egg #2 from (100-x)th to 99th floors. In (100/x) + (x-1) equation, with increase in x, 100/x decreases while (x-1) increases, thus we can minimize it when 100/x = (x-1), this gives x ~10, which gives worst case number as 19 drops.

    But increasing the floor every time by x is not a very nice idea, as with each new increase in Egg #1 drop, we should decrease Egg #2 drops to minimize worst case number. so if we drop Egg #1 from xth floor initially, then in next turn we should try x + (x-1)th floor(to keep the worst case number same).
    Thus we can say X + (x-1) + (x-2)…1 = 100
    X(X+1)/2 = 100 => X=14.

    So we should drop Egg #1 from 14th, then 27th, then 39th and so on.

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  • I will be thrown at lions. Now if Akbar threw him at lions, Birbal’s statement will stand true and he will have to bury him alive. But if he bury him, the statement will emerge as false. Thus he had no choice left

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  • Flick Switch A. Leave it on for ten minutes. Turn it off. Flick Switch B. Leave it on. Leave Switch C off. Go up to the room. If the bulb is off but warm, it is Switch A. If the bulb is on, it is Switch B. If it is off, and cold, it is C.

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  • It takes 3 hours for the friends to meet; so the pigeon flies for 3 hours at 18 MPH = 54 miles.

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  • White. The cook only ever removes the white beans two at a time, and there are an odd number of them. When the cook gets to the last white bean, and picks it up along with a black bean, the white one always goes back into the pot.

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  • Cube One has the following numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

    Cube two has the following numbers: 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8

    The 6 doubles as a 9 when turned the other way around.

    There is no day 00, but you still need the 0 on both cubes in order to make all the numbers between 01 and 09.

    Alternate solutions are also possible e.g.
    Cube One: 1, 2, 4, 0, 5, 6
    Cube Two: 3, 1, 2, 7, 8, 0

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  • Light both the ends of the first string and one end of the second string. 30 minutes will have passed when the first string is fully burned, which means 30 minutes have burned off the second string. Light the end of the second string and when it is fully burned, 45 minutes will have passed.

    Some people have difficulty grasping that when you light both ends of the first fuse, it will take 30 minutes to burn. Because the burning rate is random and unknown to you, you have no idea where the 30 minute mark is on the fuse. If you had an exact duplicate, then the 30 minute mark would be in the same place. It is probably not in the middle, but it is somewhere. If you burn both ends of a fuse it will not stop burning until it has reached this mark, which means 30 minutes is up.

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  • Pour the four gallon bucket filled with water into the empty seven gallon bucket. Fill the four gallon bucket up again and poor as much as you can into the seven gallon bucket until the seven gallon bucket is fill. Now there is one gallon left in the four gallon bucket. Empty the seven gallon bucket and transfer the one gallon of water into the seven gallon bucket. Fill the four gallon bucket one more time, then pour the four gallons into the seven gallon bucket making which already has one gallon in it, making a total of five gallons.

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  • Yes, the third Islander will say the other two Islanders are from the same island.

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  • Fill the five gallon container. Pour all but two gallons into the three gallon container. Empty the three gallon container. Put the two remaining gallons from the five gallon container into the three gallon container. Fill the five gallon container one more time. Pour one gallon from the five gallon container by filling the three gallon container. Now the five gallon container contains four gallons.

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