Solve One Puzzle a Day

Question
Three friends divided some bullets equally. After all of them shot 4 bullets the
total number of bullets remaining is equal to the bullets each had after division.

Find the original number divided.
Answer:

Let 3X be the number of bullets intially they had..
so after division each will have X bullets.
so after shooting 4 bullets .

X-4+X-4+X-4=X;
2X=12;
X=6;
so the initial number of bullets is 18

APPLES AND FRIENDS
You have a basket containing ten apples. You have ten friends, who each desire an apple. You give each of your friends one apple.

After a few minutes each of your friends has one apple each, yet there is an apple remaining in the basket.
Regards,
Rajesh Kumar
Twitt me @ twitter.com/RajeshKumarIn

Question
There are 2 trees in a garden (tree “A” and “B”) and on the both trees are some birds.

The birds of tree A say to the birds of tree B that if one of you comes to our tree, then our population will be the double of yours.

Then the birds of tree B tell to the birds of tree A that if one of you comes here, then our population will be equal to that of yours.

Now answer: How many birds in each tree?

Here is the answer:

The solution is 7 and 5.

7 on tree A, and 5 on tree B 🙂

Question
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 remaining will 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.

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?

I could not solve but got over net…:)

The eldest pirate will propose a 97 : 0 : 1 : 0 : 2 split.

Working backwards, splits in terms of younger to older:

2 Pirates: Pirate Two splits the coins 100 : 0 (giving all to the other pirate). Otherwise, and perhaps even then, Pirate One (the youngest) would vote against him and over he goes!

3 Pirates: Pirate Three splits the coins 0 : 1 : 99. Pirate One (the youngest) is going to vote against him no matter what (see above), but this way, Pirate Two will vote for him, to get at least one gold out of it.

4 Pirates: Pirate Four splits the coins 1 : 2 : 0 : 97. This way, Pirate One will vote for him, and so will Pirate Two – they’re getting more than they would under 3 pirates.

5 Pirates: Pirate five splits the coins 2 : 0 : 1: 0 : 97. This way, Pirate One will vote for him, and so will Pirate Three – they’re both getting better than they would under 4.
Regards,
Rajesh Kumar
Twitt me @ twitter.com/RajeshKumarIn

Question
Nine nickels and a traditional balance are sitting in front of you. All nickels have the same weight except for one counterfeit, which is slightly heavier than the others. What is the lowest maximum number of times you expect to use the balance to guarantee you’ve found the counterfeit nickel? Please explain the process you would take.

Answer
Hi,

I am using simple logic here dont know if this right.

if s=9 (no of nickels)
and n=1 (max no of times)

than answer is 8 times

cheers!
Som

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.