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KnifeMissile · 03-19-2004, 05:55 PM

You're a kid and you've been sent to math camp as punishment from your parents for getting poor grades.

Now, this camp is trying to foster problem solving skills so, to motivate you, they give you this problem to solve.

You're in a meeting with 9 other kids and a card that's white on one side and black on the other. You're told that, during your stay at camp, you'll be playing a game. Every day, one of you will be picked at random to come back to this room where you can flip the card over, if you want to. You will also be given a chance to declare that everyone has visited this room during the game, at least, once. If you are correct, you can all go home immediately! If you guess incorrectly, your parents will send you back to camp for another 12 years! So, you definitely don't want to guess wrong...

So, how will you kids plan your strategy? Remember, you will be picked at random, so some kids may visit the room several times before another's first visit. You're all staying at different camp grounds so, after this meeting, the only communication between you kids will be the flipping (or non-flipping) of this card...

03-19-2004, 05:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
KnifeMissile Location: Waterloo, Ontario	A subtle puzzle... You're a kid and you've been sent to math camp as punishment from your parents for getting poor grades. Now, this camp is trying to foster problem solving skills so, to motivate you, they give you this problem to solve. You're in a meeting with 9 other kids and a card that's white on one side and black on the other. You're told that, during your stay at camp, you'll be playing a game. Every day, one of you will be picked at random to come back to this room where you can flip the card over, if you want to. You will also be given a chance to declare that everyone has visited this room during the game, at least, once. If you are correct, you can all go home immediately! If you guess incorrectly, your parents will send you back to camp for another 12 years! So, you definitely don't want to guess wrong... So, how will you kids plan your strategy? Remember, you will be picked at random, so some kids may visit the room several times before another's first visit. You're all staying at different camp grounds so, after this meeting, the only communication between you kids will be the flipping (or non-flipping) of this card...