ERJ Brainteaser - July

Question 5: Countdown

Complete the following series

166 hours 40 minutes; 16hrs 40 minutes: 1hr 40 minutes; _____

Answer: The correct answer was 10 but this teaser also generated some interesting working-outs and alternatives solutions (see below). Very well done to: Andy Longdon, technical sales manager, Ceetak Ltd, Bedford UK; Bharat B Sharma, technical director, Rajsha Chemicals Pvt. Ltd, (TWC Group), Vadodara (Guj) India; John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland;  Caner Orhan, compound process chief, Petlas Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Kindam Mahallesi Ankara-Kayseri Caddesi, Kirsehir, Turkey; Peter D. Talbot, research scientist, Chem-Trend LP, Howell, MI, USA; Sudi Sudarshan, principal consultant, Global Mobility Strategies, USA; and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS

Andy Longdon

Q5: answer = 0 hrs 10 minutes

Expressed in minutes the sequence is dividing by 10 each time:

166 hours 40 minutes (10,000 mins); 16hrs 40 minutes (1,000 mins): 1hr 40 minutes (100 mins); _____next in the sequence is 0 hrs 10 minutes (10 mins)

Bharat B Sharma

166 hours 40 minutes; 16hrs 40 minutes: 1hr 40 minutes; _____

It appears to be quite simple (to identify the trend- its not 40 minutes for sure - which appears to be normal catch). Q5: answer = 0 hrs 10 minutes

Expressed in minutes the sequence is dividing by 10 each time:

166 hours 40 minutes (10,000 mins); 16hrs 40 minutes (1,000 mins): 1hr 40 minutes (100 mins); _____next in the sequence is 0 hrs 10 minutes (10 mins)

If we covert everything into minutes or days we may get some trend established. I found simple by converting into minutes:

166 hours 40 minutes=(166×60)+40=9960+40    =10000 minutes

16 hours 40 minutes=(16×60)+40=960+40           =1000 minutes  (1/10th of earlier number - 10000)

1 hour 40 minutes=(1×60)+40=60+40                     =100 minutes    (1/10th of earlier number - 1000)

 With this simple logic, next number would (1/10th of earlier number - 100) = 10 Minutes

Answer – 10 Minutes!!!

John Bowen

Next terms are: 10minutes, then 1 minute

Each term is one tenth of the previous term, expressed in minutes: 10,000 minutes, then 1000, 100, 10, 1

Andrew Knox

Answer: 10 minutes

The difference between the times appears to go down by a factor of 10 - i. e. -150, -15, so -1.5 hours would give 1 hour 30 minutes, leaving 10 minutes. The next increment would then be 0.15 hours, or 9 minutes.

Amparo Botella

Complete the following series

166 hours 40 minutes; 16hrs 40 minutes: 1hr 40 minutes; 1 h. 40 minutes; 10 minutos

If we convert the hours in minutes the result is:

166 h 40 min = 9960 min+ 40 min = 10000 min.

16 h 40 min = 960 min+40 min= 1000 min.1 h 40 min = 60 min + 40 min = 100 min.

If the second number of minutes corresponds to the tenth part of the first one (10000/10=1000)

Then the third number is the tenth part of the second one, the next one on the series must be 100/10 = 10

This will be just:

0 h 10 min. = 0+10 min=10 min.

The answer is 10 minutes.

Kamila Staszewska

166h40min is 10000min

16h40min is 1000min

1h40min is 100min

Next in series and the answer is: 10min.

An alternative answer is 40min assuming we are dropping the last digit out of hour display

Caner Orhan

1st: 166 hour 40 minutes : 10000 minutes

2nd  16 hou?r 40 minutes : 1000 minutes

3rd: 1 hour 40 minutes: 100 minutes.

4th: 10 minutes.

Peter D. Talbot

If expressed simply in minutes, the series becomes: 10,000, 1,000, and 100 (104, 103 and 102).

Therefore, the fourth member of the series is 100/10 or 101= 10 minutes.

Ahab, Hook, Kirk, Phillips, Quint, Sparrow

Answer: This was all about recognising the names as a list of ‘ship’ captains and then separating fact from fiction – and/or finding some alternative interesting points of differentiation. Very well done to: Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Andy Longdon, technical sales manager, Ceetak Ltd, Bedford UK; Caner Orhan, compound process chief, Petlas Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Kindam Mahallesi Ankara-Kayseri Caddesi, Kirsehir, Turkey; and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS

Amparo Botella

I think the odd one is Philips, as all of them are Captains in a fiction story, but Philips is a real captain in the real life.

Ahab – Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick

Hook – Captain Hook from Peter Pan

Kirk – Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek

Phillips – Captain Richard Phillips from Captain Phillips (based on a real person)

Quint – The shark hunter (often referred to as "Captain Quint") from Jaws

Sparrow – Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean

Andrew Knox

These names can all be associated with fictitious sea or space captains in books and/or films, except in the case of Phillips, which was a film about a true story. Alternatively, all are sea captains except Kirk, who was captain of the spacecraft Enterprise. Or, captain Hook was the only character missing one hand, or ....

John Bowen

I think that the odd one out is Captain Phillips.

All the others were Captains of vessels seeking either people, beings or treasure.  Captain Phillips was captured by Somali pirates and managed to outwit them and escape.

Kamila Staszewska

These are Captains and only one character is non-fictional - Phillips.

Alternative answer is Kirk as he is the only one to command a starship rather than a sea vessel.

Andy Longdon CEETAK

Captain Phillips is real, all the other captains are fictional characters

Or ….

Captain Kirk, as all the others are captains of boats, not spacecraft.

Or ….

Captain Hook, since all the others had two hands.

Caner Orhan

The answer is Philips. All the other ones are fictional captains, but Captain Philips is a real-life captain.

New teaser on Monday.

Find a connection between:

Bobby Vee, David Bowie, The Beatles, 10cc, Miles Davis.

Answer: Top of the pops this week is Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland – who answered before any clues were issued – followed soon after by equally tuned-in John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK. Special mention also to Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain, for his take on this question.

SOLUTIONS

Kamila Staszewska

All five artists had a song or album with “Rubber” in title (Rubber Ball, Rubber Band, Rubber Soul, Rubber Bullets, Rubberband).

John Bowen

Connection is 'Rubber'

Each group made a record with 'Rubber' in the title

Bobby Vee   - Rubber ball

David Bowie - Rubber band

The Beatles - Rubber soul

10cc - Rubber bullet

Miles Davis - Rubberband of life

Amparo Botella

Before any clues, I think the answer can be that all the mentioned artists have a direct or indirect connection to Bob Dylan, either through collaboration, influence, or tribute.

New teaser on Monday.

Using only mathematical functions/expressions, how can you get 6 from three 0s (zeros)?

Answer: Well done for some very neat solutions (see below) to: Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; Jonas Dispersyn, innovation platform leader – superior tire performance, rubber reinforcement, NV Bekaert SA, Deerlijk, Belgium; John Bowen, consultant, Bromsgrove, UK; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; Bharat B Sharma, technical director, TWC Group (Techno Waxchm & Rajsha Chemicals); ADDRESS:  Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld, consultant, Germany: Sudi Sudarshan, principal consultant, Global Mobility Strategies, USA; Andrew Knox, Rubbond International, Ohé en Laak, The Netherlands; Otto Trujillo, Entre Ríos SA, Guatemala; and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS                              

Amparo Botella

I can just think to use 0 factorial = 1 and make the following math operation:

0!+0!+0!=1+1+1=3

If we make (0! + 0! + 0!) x2 = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3x2=6

Jonas Dispersyn

(cos(0) + cos(0) + cos(0))! = (1+1+1)!=3!=3x2x1=6

John Bowen

Not immediately apparent - this relies on 0! being defined as 1, also

3! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 6

So  [0! + 0! + 0!]! = 6

Kamila Staszewska

Using three zeros and factorials:

(0! + 0! + 0!)!

0! is 1

(1 + 1 + 1)!= 3*2*1=6

Bharat B Sharma

I feel that there could be two possible ways we can get 6 using mathematical functions/expressions using three 0 (zeros).

(0! + 0! + 0!)!  == Factorial of (Factorial 0 + Factorial 0 + Factorial 0) = Factorial of (1+1+1) = Factorial of 3 = 3x2 = 6

(Cos(0)+Cos(0)+Cos(0))!  == Factorial of (1+1+1) = Factorial of 3 = 3x2 = 6

Hans-Bernd Luechtefeld

The expression (0! + 0! + 0!)! results in 6. This works because the factorial of 0 (0!) is equal to 1. Therefore, 0! + 0! + 0! equals 1 + 1 + 1, which equals 3. Then, taking the factorial of 3 (3!) gives us 3 * 2 * 1 = 6. Chop two of the zeros into two semicircles, put them back together as 3s. Then 3+3+0=6.

Sudi Sudarshan

(0!+0!+0!)!

Alternate (if the mathematical constant e is allowed):

(e^0+e^0+e^0)!

Andrew Knox

Using only mathematical functions/expressions, how can you get 6 from three 0s (zeros)?

Answer: !0 = 0 and any other number you wish.

So !0 + !0 + !0 = 6 ought to be valid for three 2's  or 1 + 2 + 3.

Otto Trujillo

0^0+0^0+0^0=3

New teaser on Monday.

If Hi is 125432 and John is 802771035518

What is

995035010299839414616212414874333929?

Answer: Extra well done to this week’s expert codebreakers (see Solutions below): Amparo Botella, responsable de Compras y Calidad, Ismael Quesada SA, Elche, Alicante, Spain; John Coleman, membership manager, Circol ELT, Dublin, Ireland; Kamila Staszewska, R&D / quality lead, Abcon Industrial Products Ltd, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, Ireland; and everyone else who had a go.

SOLUTIONS

Amparo Botella

If we add the three numbers of each series, the result corresponds to each alphabet letter.

THEN:

125 = 8 = H

432 = 9 = I

802 = 10 = J

771 = 15 = O

035 = 8 = H

518 = 14 = N

 NOW:

995 = 23 = W

035 = 8 = H

010 = 1 = A

299 = 20 = T

839 = 20 = T

414 = 9 = I

616 = 13 = M

212 = 5 = E

414 = 9 = I

874=19 = S

333 = 9 = I

929 = 20 = T

Kamila Staszewska

Hi is 125432: 1+2+5=8 = H (8th letter in alphabet), 4+3+2=9 = I (9th letter in alphabet). John is 802771035518: 8+0+2=10=J, 7+7+1=15=O, 0+3+5=8=H, 5+1+8=14=N. Then 995 035 010 299 839 414 616 212 414 874 333 929 is: 23 8 1 20 20 9 13 5 9 19 9 20 = WHAT TIME IS IT

John Coleman

Splitting 125432 in two to represent H and I gives 125 & 432.

These triple chunks add up to give 8 and 9 – These are the representative places within the alphabet for ‘Hi’.

Similarly, to verify, the following arises:

802 771 035 518 = 10 15 8 14 = J O H N.

Therefore, applying this across 995 035 010 299 839 414 616 212 414 874 333 929 gives the following:

W H A T   T I M E   I S   I T

New teaser on Monday