Riddle
11-08-2010 | 02:15 PM
#1
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Riddle
A King has 10 tax collectors, each responsible for collecting 10 pounds of gold from their territories. The gold is delivered to the king in the form of 10 one pound gold bars (for each of the 10 tax collectors, for a total of 100 pounds of gold). The king gets wind that one of the tax collectors is shaving one ounce from each of his gold bars, and therefore only delivering 9 pounds 6 ounces of gold in his bag.
The king has a scale in his castle, but it's coin operated, and the king only has one coin. Thus, he can only take one measurement of weight (this is instantaneous, so he can't just put the coin in, and keep adding one bar at a time, etc.).
How can he find out which tax collector is shorting him?
The king has a scale in his castle, but it's coin operated, and the king only has one coin. Thus, he can only take one measurement of weight (this is instantaneous, so he can't just put the coin in, and keep adding one bar at a time, etc.).
How can he find out which tax collector is shorting him?
Last edited by xdeathwishx; 11-08-2010 at 02:50 PM.
11-08-2010 | 02:40 PM
#2
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haha i'm too dumb to solve riddles like these but the only thing i wanted to note was that if one of the tax collectors is shaving an ounce off of each 1 lb bar of gold, he would have shaved off 10 oz (or approx. 2/3 lb), not 1 lb. i dunno if this holds any significance to solving the riddle or not lol 
11-08-2010 | 02:53 PM
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damn google doesn't even have the answer...I'll ask jeeves
But yeah 16oz are in a lb. So maybe the 4 oz. are in the coin he uses? Or maybe put all of the bars on the scale and mark the bars accordingly, and then take then put in the coin and take them off one by one. Or just hope for the best, he's got a 10% chance in getting it right tax collector.
This certainly is an odd riddle, hrm. I bet it is an easy one and I am just over thinking it.
But yeah 16oz are in a lb. So maybe the 4 oz. are in the coin he uses? Or maybe put all of the bars on the scale and mark the bars accordingly, and then take then put in the coin and take them off one by one. Or just hope for the best, he's got a 10% chance in getting it right tax collector.
This certainly is an odd riddle, hrm. I bet it is an easy one and I am just over thinking it.
11-08-2010 | 03:06 PM
#6
Well, wouldn't the king be able to check each of the bags and see who's bag has gold bars that have a little bit off?
Last edited by nkghost; 11-08-2010 at 03:08 PM. Reason: Mis-read riddle
11-08-2010 | 03:14 PM
#7
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divide the bars into the 10 stacks from each collector
take one bar from the 1st stack
take two bars from the 2nd stack
take three bars from the 3rd stack
etc etc
take all ten bars from the 10th stack
weigh them all together. It should weight 55 lbs, but it wont, since someone is shorting their bars by one ounce.
If the weight is 54 15/16oz then we know its the 1st stack that was short
it the weight is 54 14/16oz then we know its the 2nd stack
if the weight is 54 13/16oz then we know its the 3rd stack
etc etc
if the weight is 54 and 6oz, then we know it was the last stack (10 missing OZ from the stack).
kill the collector that is short.
take one bar from the 1st stack
take two bars from the 2nd stack
take three bars from the 3rd stack
etc etc
take all ten bars from the 10th stack
weigh them all together. It should weight 55 lbs, but it wont, since someone is shorting their bars by one ounce.
If the weight is 54 15/16oz then we know its the 1st stack that was short
it the weight is 54 14/16oz then we know its the 2nd stack
if the weight is 54 13/16oz then we know its the 3rd stack
etc etc
if the weight is 54 and 6oz, then we know it was the last stack (10 missing OZ from the stack).
kill the collector that is short.
11-08-2010 | 03:17 PM
#9
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divide the bars into the 10 stacks from each collector
take one bar from the 1st stack
take two bars from the 2nd stack
take three bars from the 3rd stack
etc etc
take all ten bars from the 10th stack
weigh them all together. It should weight 55 lbs, but it wont, since someone is shorting their bars by one ounce.
If the weight is 54 15/16oz then we know its the 1st stack that was short
it the weight is 54 14/16oz then we know its the 2nd stack
if the weight is 54 13/16oz then we know its the 3rd stack
etc etc
if the weight is 54 and 6oz, then we know it was the last stack (10 missing OZ from the stack).
kill the collector that is short.
take one bar from the 1st stack
take two bars from the 2nd stack
take three bars from the 3rd stack
etc etc
take all ten bars from the 10th stack
weigh them all together. It should weight 55 lbs, but it wont, since someone is shorting their bars by one ounce.
If the weight is 54 15/16oz then we know its the 1st stack that was short
it the weight is 54 14/16oz then we know its the 2nd stack
if the weight is 54 13/16oz then we know its the 3rd stack
etc etc
if the weight is 54 and 6oz, then we know it was the last stack (10 missing OZ from the stack).
kill the collector that is short.
jk
11-08-2010 | 06:38 PM
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If you want to make it even more complicated, gold is measured in Troy ounces, which is about ~31 grams to an ounce, instead of the standard ounce which is ~28 grams. So 16 "ounces" of gold don't equal 1 pound.