Logical Hodgepodge

M is for Math at Grinding My Grits where I am also participating in the A-Z Challenge. I've done it several times here at Empty Nest and it was fun. This time is just seems time consuming. I don't think I'm in a writing mood. But I can't stop in the middle. Once I commit, I'm in for the duration. Dang it. 

Anyway, I'm always in the mood for the Hodgepodge! 

1. Speaking of April 15th...what's the most 'taxing' thing you've done recently? Get up and go to work every day. Ha!

2. When did you last take a taxi somewhere and where was that somewhere? I haven't been in a taxi since grad school. Which was YEARS ago.  

3. What's something you can do today that you couldn't do a year ago?  See the light at the end of the tunnel, maybe? Hopefully. 

4. How often is chicken (in some form or fashion) on your menu at home? Which of the following would you most like to see on your table tonight...a chicken salad sandwich, your mom's fried chicken, a Chick-fil-A meal, Cracker Barrel's chicken n' dumplings, a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings, or 'hold the chicken, I'm a vegetarian'...? Nearly every day but that's because I make it for Tucker. The rest of us try not to eat meat very often. Hold the chicken. UNLESS my grandmother (either of them) was to make a miraculous appearance. Then I'd choose fried chicken. :)

5. What was your favorite television program when you were a kid? What characters do you remember the most? I wasn't much of a television watcher. I watched some things but didn't really have a favorite. However, if Kurt Russell was on Disney, I was in front of that television. Right in front. Dead center, baby. What a hottie! 

6. What was the last piece of 'art' you made? Probably Christmas with the handmade gifts for the lovelies. We always try to hand-make each other gifts at Christmas. I found those exact frames on eBay and bought four of them. The I took out the insides and put five pennies in there with each of the four daughters birth years and my birth year and a heart at the bottom.  

 

7. What frustrates you most about the Internet? When it doesn't work. Oh, and then there's all the BS out there. Right at your fingertips. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here. Deanie is coming home to attend a friend's wedding. She'll be here tonight so I took Thursday and Friday off to spend time with her. I'm looking forward to having her to myself tomorrow and all four lovelies will be with me for lunch on Friday. Just call me, Lucky Mom. :) I hope she can stand being here since she's just coming off a lovely 5 day vacay at a 5 star resort in Costa Rica. Drummer Boy's band played there over the weekend and were given the trip for themselves and their girlfriends/wife/fiance. Such a hard life. 

AND: Happy Birthday to my most wonderful SIL who turned the ripe old age of 27 yesterday and to my Tucker pup who is 7 years old today!

Lastly: Did y'all see this floating around the internet yesterday? Don't read past the bold print until you think about it because the part not in bold print contains the answer. Enjoy!

Here is the question:

Albert and Bernard just become friends with Cheryl, and they want to know when her birthday is. Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates. 

May 15, May 16, May 19
June 17, June 18
July 14, July 16
August 14, August 15, August 17

Cheryl then tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and the day of her birthday respectively. 

Albert: I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too.
Bernard: At fist I don't know when Cheryl's birthday is, but I know now.
Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl's birthday is.

So when is Cheryl's birthday?



STOP! The answer is below:

The math problem was posted to a Singapore media personality's Facebook page and has since gone viral. It seems nearly impossible when you first read the question. But the answer may be reached with more common sense than you think.

The question was originally on a test given to the Singapore and Asean Schools Math Olympiads.

Read the solution, courtesy of Singapore's Study Room Facebook page:

First we need to figure out if Albert knows the month or the day. If he knows the day, then there is no chance that Bernard knows the birthday, so it must be that Albert knows the month.

From the first statement, we know that Albert is sure that Bernard doesn't know the birthday, so May and June should be ruled out (the day 19 only appears in May and the day 18 only appears in June). In other words, if Albert had May or June, then he cannot be sure that Bernard doesn't know, since Bernard could have had 18 or 19.

Following that statement, Bernard knows that May and June are ruled out.

Then, Bernard is able to know which month it is. So it must be either July 16, August 15 and August 17 (not 14th as then he can't know).

Since Albert subsequently can also be sure of the date, he must know it's July. If it's August, he can't be sure as there is August 15 and 17.

So the answer is July 16.

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!