Albert Einstein’s riddle

ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE THIS RIDDLE EARLY DURING THE 19th CENTURY. HE SAID THAT 98% OF THE WORLD POPULATION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT.

ARE YOU IN THE TOP 2% OF INTELLIGENT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD? SOLVE THE RIDDLE AND FIND OUT.

There are no tricks, just pure logic, so good luck and don’t give up.

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

HINTS

1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

The Monty Hall Maths Problem

Sorry, guys, there has not been much to add in this difficult week. However, I’d like to share with you a really interesting mathematical probability problem brought to my attention by Caleb in my Year 12 Chemistry class. Click here to watch. Watch it a couple of times, please - it’s quite hard to get your head around.

Year 9 students might like to try to prove/disprove this problem for Science Fair. Try using shoe boxes instead of doors, and no goats please…

Thanks, Caleb, we all had a really interesting experience, though I know a number of us are still contemplating this.

Future Problem Solving

Identify two issues from the Olympics scenario that you might have problems with, but which don’t actually challenge anyone else. Do they exist? Why or why not? Usual points apply.

Why does ice float?

When a liquid freezes, the particles move closer together and the resulting solid becomes more dense. When water freezes, the opposite happens. Why? Earn some points.

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Mystery Object

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Open to all Year 9 and 10 students, plus staff too. An answer earns you a point; the first correct answer earns you 3 points, and 5 points earns you an individual ice cream of your choice from the corner shop. You might need to be a bit ancient or have ancient friends to get this one right.

What is the cylinder in the device being raised towards the aeroplane?

Hot Air Engines

OK, here’s another one. Those of you in my classes will have noticed I have a new toy. It can be powered by a Bunsen burner (or any other heating device) to make a fan turn. In other words we are turning thermal energy into kinetic energy. If you haven’t seen it working, just pop in and ask me to show you.This device is commonly known by two names - hot air engine or Stirling engine. How does it work? No, it is not a steam engine - there is no water involved.

This is a hard one, so 5 points to the first understandable correct answer.

What did Mum do?

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See if you can earn a point or three (if first correct), by answering this practical puzzle. There may well be more than one answer.

Sally and her little brother Billy were fighting as usual. Their mother was tired of the pair of them and decided to punish them. Her clever punishment was to make them stand on the same piece of newspaper in such a way that they couldn’t touch each other. She did not cut or reshape her page of the BOP Times in any way.

How did she accomplish this?

Mystery object

Iain’s latest post wins. When the ambient temperature changes, the density of the clear liquid in the cylinder changes - ie if the temperature increases, the particles in the clear liquid move further apart, reducing in density. The glass bulbs all have a different density. Those with a low density will move upwards when the density of the liquid around them decreases. Get it? I’ll show you with my Gallileo thermometer next week. In the meantime, you’ve all won points, both for first, second, and any other attempts. Well done! Check out the points table to see where you are at now.

 I’ll post another question sometime over the weekend.

Mystery object

See my comment. Two of you are so close, but not close enough. Come on the rest of you - let’s have some more involvement!

Mystery object entries

I have received some entries for this competition, but I’m not posting them on the blog until the closing date. This way other people can’t use your ideas. So don’t worry if you don’t see your answer online yet.