Sunday, November 17, 2013

At a movie theater, the manager announces that they will give a free ticket to the first person in line whose birthday is the same as someone who has already bought a ticket. You have the option of getting in line at any time. Assuming that you don't know anyone else's birthday, that birthdays are distributed randomly throughout the year, etc., what position in line gives you the greatest chance of being the first duplicate birthday?


Thursday, November 14, 2013

5 pirates of different ages have a treasure of 100 gold coins puzzle

5 pirates of different ages have a treasure of 100 gold coins. 

On their ship, they decide to split the coins using this scheme: 

The oldest pirate proposes how to share the coins, and ALL pirates (including the oldest) vote for or against it. 

If 50% or more of the pirates vote for it, then the coins will be shared that way. Otherwise, the pirate proposing the scheme will be thrown overboard, and the process is repeated with the pirates that remain.

As pirates tend to be a bloodthirsty bunch, if a pirate would get the same number of coins if he voted for or against a proposal, he will vote against so that the pirate who proposed the plan will be thrown overboard.

Assuming that all 5 pirates are intelligent, rational, greedy, and do not wish to die, (and are rather good at math for pirates) what will happen?

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

2 Boys and train puzzles

Suppose 2 boys are walking in the woods and they decide to take a shortcut through a railroad tunnel. They had walked 2/3 of the way through the tunnel, but then something horrible happened: a train was coming in the opposite direction towards the 2 boys, and it was coming close to the other entrance of the tunnel. Each boy ran in a different direction to get out of the tunnel and avoid the incoming train. Each boy ran at the same exact speed of 10 miles per hour, and each boy managed to escape the train at the exact instant in which the train would have hit and killed him. If the train was moving at a constant speed and each boy was capable of instantaneous acceleration, then how fast was the train going?

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Determine winner of 2/9 number game

Two players play the following game: they pick a random number N (less than 2 billion) then, 
starting from 1, take turns multiplying the number from the previous turn with either 2 or 9 (their choice). Whoever reaches N first wins. 
The candidate should write a function that given N decides who wins (first or second player)?

Friday, July 26, 2013

What strategy should be used to kill the fewest dwarfs, and what is the minimum number of dwarfs that can be saved with this strategy?

A dwarf-killing giant lines up 10 dwarfs from shortest to tallest. Each dwarf can see all the shortest dwarfs in front of him, but cannot see the dwarfs behind himself. The giant randomly puts a white or black hat on each dwarf. No dwarf can see their own hat. The giant tells all the dwarfs that he will ask each dwarf, starting with the tallest, for the color of his hat. If the dwarf answers incorrectly, the giant will kill the dwarf. Each dwarf can hear the previous answers, but cannot hear when a dwarf is killed. What strategy should be used to kill the fewest dwarfs, and what is the minimum number of dwarfs that can be saved with this strategy?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/toughest-job-interview-questions-2013-7?op=1#ixzz2a9upxPNJ

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

How many passes does it take to fill in slots so that max number of people are happy


 There are 5 slots(1,2,3,4,5) and 5 people(A,B,C,D,E). Each of them provide their preferences. A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, C=4. Given an arbitary starting sequence say BCDEA, going clock wise: how many passes does it take to fill in those slots so that max number of people are happy. People are happy if A gets 1, B gets 2, C gets 3, etc. Remember D and E cannot be kept happy together at the same time because both of them prefer Slot-4.
So Question is : Can you do better than N passes?

Suppose you reach your home and noticed that the light bulb in your corridor is not working. What will you do in such a situation?