All about flooble | fun stuff | Get a free chatterbox | Free JavaScript | Avatars    
perplexus dot info

Home > Logic
Four Perfect Logicians (Posted on 2002-09-24) Difficulty: 4 of 5
Four perfect logicians, who all knew each other from being members of the Perfect Logician's Club, sat around a table that had a dish with 11 apples in it. The chat was intense, and they ended up eating all of the apples. Everybody had at least one apple, and everyone knew that fact, and each logician knew the number of apples that he ate. They didn't know how many apples each of the other ate, though.

They agreed to ask only questions that they didn't know the answers to.

  • Alonso: Did you eat more apples that I did, Bertrand?
  • Bertrand: I don't know. Did you, George, eat more apples than I did?
  • George: I don't know.
  • Kurt: Aha!!

    Kurt figured out how many apples each person ate. Can you do the same?

  • See The Solution Submitted by Chris Middlemiss    
    Rating: 3.6154 (13 votes)

    Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
    Some Thoughts No Subject | Comment 13 of 28 |
    I agree with TomM's answer (sorry about the fubar logic and the invalid post before, I'm new here).

    The only information that can be gleaned from the given conversation is that Bertrand had at least 2 and George had at least 3, and none of the questioners had more than 4. The only way for Kurt to derive the answer is if he had eaten 5, leaving 1 for Alphonse, 2 for Bertrand, and 3 for George.
      Posted by Chuck Bruce on 2002-10-18 03:50:51
    Please log in:
    Login:
    Password:
    Remember me:
    Sign up! | Forgot password


    Search:
    Search body:
    Forums (1)
    Newest Problems
    Random Problem
    FAQ | About This Site
    Site Statistics
    New Comments (23)
    Unsolved Problems
    Top Rated Problems
    This month's top
    Most Commented On

    Chatterbox:
    Copyright © 2002 - 2024 by Animus Pactum Consulting. All rights reserved. Privacy Information