Brain Teasers

Mathematical Thinking Lab

Date 22 - 1 - 16
 Cross the River in Minimum Time
Four people need to cross a dark river at night.
Conditions are:
* They have only one torch and the river is too
risky to cross without the torch.
* If all people cross simultaneously then torch light
wont be sufficient.
* Speed of each person of crossing the river is
different i.e. cross times for the persons say is 1
minute, 2 minutes, 7 minutes and 10 minutes
What is the shortest time needed for all four of
them to cross the river ?
 Find The Fake Coin
In front of you, there are 9 coins. They
all look absolutely identical, but one of
the coins is fake. However, you know
that the fake coin is lighter than the
rest, and in front of you is a balance
scale. What is the least number of
weightings you can use to find the
counterfeit coin?
 How Many Apples
John and Jacobs have a few apples
with them. If Jacobs gives one of his
apple to John, they will have equal
number of apples with them.
But if John gives one of his apple to
Jacobs, he will be left with half the
number of apples to that of Jacob's.
How many apples does each one of
them have right now?
 Find the Total
Add 40 to 1000. Then add another
1000. Now add 30, and another 1000.
Now add 20 to it. And add another
1000. Now add 10.

What is the total?

 Rearrange the Glasses
There are six glasses in a row,
first three with water and the
next three empty. You are
allowed touch and move only one
glass. Can you arrange in such a
way that it would be alternative
first with water, next empty and
so on!
 Maths Examination Problem
While giving a competitive exam, you spend a lot of
time doing just the mathematics section and you
realize that not much time is left.

You ask the examiner, questioning her about the

remaining time. Being quirky in nature, she replies
that the amount of time left is 1/5th of the time
you have already consumed.

If the entrance exam was of 90 minutes

duration, can you find the remaining time?
 Statement Equation Puzzle
Consider the following situations:
A+A=B
B+B=D
A+D=E
Then can you find the value for:
B + D + E?
How Many Squares Puzzle
 Age Puzzle
Gordon is twice as old as Tony was
when Gordon was as old as Tony is
now. The combined age of Gordon
and Tony is 112 years.

How old are Gordon and Tony now?

 Movement Puzzle

At each stage the black dot moves three

corners clockwise and the white dot moves
four corners anticlockwise.

After how many stages will both

dots be together in the same corner?
 Fit The Square Puzzle

Which three of the four pieces below can be fitted

together to form a perfect square?
 Find The Stations Problem
Every station on the railway system sells
tickets to every other station. Some new
stations were added. 46 sets of additional
sets of tickets were required.
How many new stations have been added?
How many stations were there originally?
 Cubic Blocks Problem

You have 59 cubic blocks. What is

the minimum number that needs to
be taken away in order to construct
a solid cube with none left over?
Which Car Goes Into Which Road
 Cutting Time Puzzle
A factory was cutting rolls of cloth
into 1 metre lengths, from a 200
metre roll.
How long would it take for the
machine to cut the roll if each cut
took 4 secs?
 Find The Letters
Place two letters in each set of brackets so that
they form a word when tacked onto the letters on
the left and form another word when placed in
front of the letters on the right. The letters placed
in the brackets must produce an eight letter word
when read downwards in pairs.
HE (**) LY
HO (**) AR
AU (**) NK
CO (**) CH
 Age of Kids Problem
Barbara visited her High School friend, Natasha
after their 25th school reunion.
What a nice pair of children you have, are they
twins?, Barbara asked.
No my sister is older than I, said Natashas son
Philip.
The square of my age plus the cube of her age is
7148.
The square of my age plus the cube of his age is
5274, said Matilda.
How old were they?
 Road Numbers Problem
5 friends live in the same road A, B, C, D, E. The
numbers of B, C, D when multiplied together
equals 1260. The numbers B,C, D when added
equal twice Es number, and is even. As number is
half as much again as Es. The road numbers run
from 2 to 222

What are the 5 road numbers?