Thursday, December 28, 2006

A fun distraction denoting diamonds n daughters;)

In tribute to the title of the book, a friend just mailed me a logic-question denoting daughters and diamonds:- To get the creative juices flowing so to speak :P
Lets see what you peeps think up on this one!

There was once a man who had 2 daughters A and B. He converted his entire estate into 9 or 16 diamonds, and decided to give each daughter some diamonds. Suppose MAX denotes the maximum number of diamonds, and he gave daughter A X diamonds, then daughter B got MAX-X diamonds. What he did just before dying was to tell daughter A how many diamonds daughter B had, and he also told daughter B how many diamonds daughter A had. After he died, each daughter wanted to know how many diamonds she had gotten, so they had the following conversation:

1)A: Tell me how many diamonds I got.
2)B: No first you tell me how many diamonds I got.
3)Ok, I now how many diamonds I got.
4)I too now know how many diamonds I got.

How many diamonds were there in all, and how many did each of the daughters get?

15 comments:

deadcrab said...

Anyone? going once..

Saaleha Idrees Bamjee said...

i've been trying to draw up an equation for this and what i've come up with after much hair pulling, is that there were 16 diamonds and that he divided them equally between the daughters.

on track or derailed?

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

hey CraBeo// :)
i already heard ur verdict, and as the resident genius on the planet, im assuming u dont wana publish ur results for fear of spoiling it for the average rest of us, hmm :P

saals.. u still owe me a cuppacino
*lol*
all i can say, is that a riddle as this one teaches u.. that as the captain of a steam-train, in order to stay on the right track, and avoid derailment, requires the use of systematic, mathematical procedure as well as unencumbered logic, non-judged instinct and a little bit of heart :)

what say you

Anonymous said...

hmm, otherwise you could just google it! :P

CraBeo//

Anonymous said...

Ignore my alter ego, it was elementary my dear kimya! :P

deadcrab//

Saaleha Idrees Bamjee said...

will do caffeine and conversation soon:)

now please someone, email me the answer. google is of no help, and i'm usually a resourceful cheater.

Anonymous said...

tada...supercrab to the rescue!! :P

Here's a hint...your hair pulling was not in vain!

supercrab//

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

lol

crab, ur scary!

i mean.. so many personas?

aaah.. i know... too much (ego)energy for one personality, hmm :P

dnt mind.. it keeps us totally entertained!

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

@saaleha..

i would love to hear about this equation of urs.. especially if u lost some healthy hair over it!

how did u come to ur conclusion?

:)

Saaleha Idrees Bamjee said...

old fashioned algebra.
the solution for x:)

Anonymous said...

X + (MAX - X) = MAX ..so

X - X = MAX - MAX ..so

0 = 0 ..which is equal to

0_o

mathcrab//

SingleGuy said...

yes Death Crab....BUT BUT BUT...I know I'm almost thirty, and I'm not in a very mathematical profession, but I say your equation although sound, does not give us an answer.

Because the Answer cannot be zero.
The riddle clearly states that the estate was converted into 9 or 16 diamonds. And Zero is undivisable.

I think it would be impossible to work out the answers given the variables give. Simply not enough information.

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

hmmm... interesting stream of commentary...

@saals: lol.. in real life, i assure you, there is no such thing as good ol algebra :P wateva u thought they told u, was allll a myth!

mathcrab! :)
einstein was looking for you earlier, i think he mumbledd something about muddled minnds and eclectic equations :P

SG - hi.. its not impossible, i say this as a non-mathematician and also as a social scientist and a self-assured individual who firmly believes that less information means the opportunity has been presented to confidently put forth wateva ones inner logic conjurs up :P

hint: wen im cryptic, ur cluelessness wont be cured by any form of mathematics/ just takes a dash of heart, thas all!!! :))

Anonymous said...

@SG
Death Crab!!??!! how very Grim Reeper'ish!

..methinks u missed the point of my calculated miscalculation 0_o

As Kimya has wisely put it...trust your instincts...dont try and muddle your mind and get lost in eclectic equations..the answer is before u...close your eyes and visualise...hmmm, i see pistachios :P

@kimya:
:P

mathcrab//

Shafinaaz Hassim said...

WiseCrab :))