• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 04:32
CET 10:32
KST 18:32
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2
Community News
BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion6Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets4$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)16Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns7[BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 105
StarCraft 2
General
I am looking for StarCraft 2 Beta Patch files Stellar Fest "01" Jersey Charity Auction SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets When will we find out if there are more tournament
Tourneys
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC2 AI Tournament 2026 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) OSC Season 13 World Championship
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone
Brood War
General
Video Footage from 2005: The Birth of G2 in Spain [ASL21] Potential Map Candidates BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2
Strategy
Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Simple Questions, Simple Answers Game Theory for Starcraft Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread Mechabellum
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Navigating the Risks and Rew…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2455 users

Nerdy Math Problem - Page 4

Blogs > Byo
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 All
Monoxide
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Canada1190 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-04-21 23:34:23
April 21 2009 23:18 GMT
#61
On April 22 2009 04:54 kingjames01 wrote:
Ah, I just got home and saw these. I got the same answer as above too.
I'll work on the integers one.

Here's one I just remembered when I was on my way home.

A shipwreck strands 10 people on a desert island whose surrounding waters are filled with the world's most deadliest man-eating sharks. These 10 people think using perfect logic. On the island they find a treasure chest filled with a 1000 gold pieces. They decide to divide the gold. Here is the process that they come up with. They each drew straws to figure out the order in which they will attempt to divide the gold. Whoever goes first can share the gold however that person chooses. The catch is that after the person has finished sharing the gold there is a vote. If the majority (greater than but not equal to 50%) of the people are not happy they can vote to have that person tossed off the island. It would then fall onto the person who was selected to be number 2 to attempt to share the gold, and so on.

Now the conditions are:
1) These people will choose life over death.
2) These people will choose more gold than equal or lesser amounts.
3) These people are perfect logicians.

Question: Can person one divide the gold in such a way that he survives the vote? If so, what is the maximum amount of gold that he can get? If not, show why.


Here is my answer
+ Show Spoiler +
This is how the first person should propose the distribution of the coins.
994 , 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0

with the person getting 994 and then second getting 0 and so on.
kingjames01
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada1603 Posts
April 22 2009 01:29 GMT
#62
On April 22 2009 08:18 Monoxide wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 22 2009 04:54 kingjames01 wrote:
Ah, I just got home and saw these. I got the same answer as above too.
I'll work on the integers one.

Here's one I just remembered when I was on my way home.

A shipwreck strands 10 people on a desert island whose surrounding waters are filled with the world's most deadliest man-eating sharks. These 10 people think using perfect logic. On the island they find a treasure chest filled with a 1000 gold pieces. They decide to divide the gold. Here is the process that they come up with. They each drew straws to figure out the order in which they will attempt to divide the gold. Whoever goes first can share the gold however that person chooses. The catch is that after the person has finished sharing the gold there is a vote. If the majority (greater than but not equal to 50%) of the people are not happy they can vote to have that person tossed off the island. It would then fall onto the person who was selected to be number 2 to attempt to share the gold, and so on.

Now the conditions are:
1) These people will choose life over death.
2) These people will choose more gold than equal or lesser amounts.
3) These people are perfect logicians.

Question: Can person one divide the gold in such a way that he survives the vote? If so, what is the maximum amount of gold that he can get? If not, show why.


Here is my answer
+ Show Spoiler +
This is how the first person should propose the distribution of the coins.
994 , 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0

with the person getting 994 and then second getting 0 and so on.


Nice! Good answer!
As a prize you receive one Schrute Buck! =)
Who would sup with the mighty, must walk the path of daggers.
Monoxide
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Canada1190 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-04-22 01:57:49
April 22 2009 01:51 GMT
#63
On April 22 2009 04:02 meeple wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2009 23:15 stenole wrote:
On April 21 2009 22:37 Chromyne wrote:
On April 21 2009 22:27 stenole wrote:
On April 21 2009 21:06 meeple wrote:
At a party, a guest asks the age of the host’s three children. The host tells the guest the following information:

Assume each child is a whole number age;

The product of their ages is 72;

The sum of their ages is the same as my house number.

The guest goes outside and looks at the house number. Upon returning, the guest indicates that he still needs additional information. The host then says "Oops, I forgot to tell you that the oldest is the only one that likes vanilla ice cream." You now have all the information to determine the ages of the children. How old is each child?
Spent some time figuring out how the house number thing could help me out...+ Show Spoiler +
72 = 2*2*2*3*3

Possible combinations:
2,2,18 = 22
2,3,12 = 17
2,6,6 = 14
2,4,9 = 15
3,4,6 = 13
3,3,8 = 14

We can assume the guest would have been able to figure it out after seeing the house number - unless more of the age combinations add up to the same house number.
Because there is an oldest child, the two others have to be younger.

Ergo, the answer is 3, 3 and 8.


stenole beat me to it. I Got the same answer.


What is my prize? There has to be a win the internet prize. The difference between this riddle/puzzle and the one in the OP is that this one is carefully worded, it tells you that you have enough information to solve it, and it practically strings you along to a single answer by stating to use whole numbers, and giving you three different clues, all of which you know need to give you some sort of info.

Here is another unsolvable problem:

Assume you have 2 herds of cows that have accidentally joined into one herd, randomly dispersed over a circular area. There are two herder teams, A and B. A tries to herd as many of his cows west of the oval.

What is the fastest way for herding team B to get all their cows to the east:
A) B sits and watches A herd their cows westward.
B) B wants to herd cows towards the east.
C) B likes A's cows.


zizi yo... here's another in the same vein,

Find positive integers a1, a2, ... , an whose sum is 100 and whose product a1a2 ... an is maximal over every possible choice of n and every possible choice of a1, a2, ... , an.

Now this one is a optimization problem.


Here is my answer
+ Show Spoiler +
product = 2^50 then the integers are all 2s


not sure if that is correct...
edit : nvm thats incorrect..
ninjafetus
Profile Joined December 2008
United States231 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-04-22 03:24:56
April 22 2009 03:09 GMT
#64
On April 21 2009 15:28 kingjames01 wrote:If you're familiar with the term POLAR coordinates then you realize that means you're talking about a 2-D circle. I've been describing a 3-D sphere, thus I need spherical coordinates.


I know we're past this, and I understand the point you're making, but I'd like to make a small correction. Yes, 'polar' tends to refer to 2d more often and 'spherical' is specifically for 3d, but for we mathematicians out there (who don't need to have pesky physical situations to justify our work) there is a generalization to n-dimensional polar coordinates. Spherical is just the 3 dimensional case.
kingjames01
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada1603 Posts
April 22 2009 03:44 GMT
#65
On April 22 2009 12:09 ninjafetus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 21 2009 15:28 kingjames01 wrote:If you're familiar with the term POLAR coordinates then you realize that means you're talking about a 2-D circle. I've been describing a 3-D sphere, thus I need spherical coordinates.


I know we're past this, and I understand the point you're making, but I'd like to make a small correction. Yes, 'polar' tends to refer to 2d more often and 'spherical' is specifically for 3d, but for we mathematicians out there (who don't need to have pesky physical situations to justify our work) there is a generalization to n-dimensional polar coordinates. Spherical is just the 3 dimensional case.


haha, you got me there! I rescind my statement. As you said, I was just pointing out that for physical round objects the usual convention is to use polar to refer to 2-D and spherical for 3-D. But yes, you are absolutely correct for the general n-dimensional case.
Who would sup with the mighty, must walk the path of daggers.
Prev 1 2 3 4 All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
09:00
WardiTV Mondays #69
CranKy Ducklings57
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft528
SortOf 157
Livibee 100
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 2204
Calm 2063
Horang2 505
Larva 362
Zeus 308
Stork 245
Rush 154
EffOrt 141
Mini 133
Hm[arnc] 85
[ Show more ]
ajuk12(nOOB) 77
Aegong 76
Shuttle 74
Pusan 56
Sharp 51
ToSsGirL 42
Mind 33
Killer 30
zelot 20
Bale 14
Noble 7
ivOry 5
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm93
League of Legends
JimRising 587
C9.Mang0481
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1005
shoxiejesuss970
allub269
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King79
Other Games
summit1g10094
ceh9465
Happy243
Sick175
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2191
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH115
• LUISG 26
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• sooper7s
• Kozan
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Laughngamez YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 7
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1234
• Stunt466
• HappyZerGling137
Upcoming Events
Wardi Open
2h 28m
Monday Night Weeklies
7h 28m
PiGosaur Monday
15h 28m
OSC
1d 1h
The PondCast
2 days
OSC
2 days
Big Brain Bouts
4 days
Serral vs TBD
BSL 21
5 days
BSL 21
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

IPSL Winter 2025-26
SC2 All-Star Inv. 2025
NA Kuram Kup

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W5
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.