Sticks and time measurement riddle
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Answered
There are two sticks. Each stick takes one hour to burn. These sticks are not identical, nor are they uniform. i.e. it does not necessarily take half an hour for half the stick to burn.
With only these two sticks and a way to light them, how do you measure out 45 minutes?
Best answer
As the sticks do not burn at a constant rate, we can not use the length of the stick as any sort of measurement of time.
But, If we light a stick, it takes 60 minutes to burn completely.
What if we light the stick from both sides? It will take exactly half the original time, i.e. 30 minutes to burn completely.
Steps-
0 minutes – Light stick 1 on both sides and stick 2 on one side.
30 minutes – Stick 1 will be burnt out(0min left to burn). Light the other end of stick 2(After lighting other end 15min left).
45 minutes – Stick 2 will be burnt out.
Your Answer
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