Head Scratchers 14

[Bumper]

1. Since a person uses about the same amount of energy walking 2 miles as they would running for 2 miles, would a person use more energy running for 10 minutes, walking for ten minutes, or the same amount of energy?

2. What word looks the same upside down and backwards?

3. Assume that you have just heard of a scandal and that you are the first one to know. You pass it on to 4 persons in a matter of 30 minutes. Each of these 4 persons in turn passes it to 4 other persons in the next 30 minutes and so on. Assume that no one hears it more than once and that the world population is 5.6 billion. How long will it take for everybody in the world to get to know the scandal?

4. After two years Tom was stepping down from being the secretary of a group of animal rights activists. To show him their appreciation a bunch of them took him out one sunny afternoon. Tom shot an eagle and everyone congratulated him. Where had they gone?

5. If there are fifteen crows on a fence and the farmer shoots a third of them, how many crows are left?

6. An old parchment describes the location of buried treasure:
"On the island there are only two trees, A and B, and the remains of a gallows. Start at the gallows and count the steps required to walk in a straight line to tree A. At the tree turn 90 degrees to the left and then walk forward the same number of steps. At the point where you stop drive a spike into the ground. Now return to the gallows and walk in a straight line, counting your steps, to tree B. When you reach the tree, turn 90 degrees to the right and take the same number of steps forward, placing another spike at the point where you stop. Dig at the point exactly halfway between the spikes and you will find the treasure."
However, our hero when he gets to the island finds the gallows missing. Is there any way he can still get to the treasure?

7. If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle?

8. Four children, Rob, Danny, Martha and Bent, had a race across the yard. Danny was as many places behind Martha as Bent was ahead of Rob. Martha was not first and Rob was not second. Who was first, second, third and fourth?

9. What goes up when the rain comes down? (And no...this is not a weather question!)

10. At noon and midnight the hour and minute hands are exactly coincident with each other. How many other times between noon and midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?

[eccentrictinker]

2. NOON
4. Golfing
6. None. The rest flew away.
7.
1st solution. Have someone else break the bottle.

2nd solution. Go to Home Depot, buy a drill press and a ceramic tile hole saw bit. Take it all home and assemble. Hold bottle securely and gently lower the spinning bit onto the bottle. As it starts to bite into the glass it will probably shatter. Never hold onto the workpiece when using a drill press. Have spouse take you to hospital for stitches. Swear off actually trying to solve a Head Scratcher involving drill presses.
9. Humididitty

[SunKneeMarie]

1. Since a person uses about the same amount of energy walking 2 miles as they would running for 2 miles, would a person use more energy running for 10 minutes, walking for ten minutes, or the same amount of energy? running

2. What word looks the same upside down and backwards?

3. Assume that you have just heard of a scandal and that you are the first one to know. You pass it on to 4 persons in a matter of 30 minutes. Each of these 4 persons in turn passes it to 4 other persons in the next 30 minutes and so on. Assume that no one hears it more than once and that the world population is 5.6 billion. How long will it take for everybody in the world to get to know the scandal?

4. After two years Tom was stepping down from being the secretary of a group of animal rights activists. To show him their appreciation a bunch of them took him out one sunny afternoon. Tom shot an eagle and everyone congratulated him. Where had they gone? playing golf

5. If there are fifteen crows on a fence and the farmer shoots a third of them, how many crows are left? if they're deaf, then 10... if not, then none

6. An old parchment describes the location of buried treasure:
"On the island there are only two trees, A and B, and the remains of a gallows. Start at the gallows and count the steps required to walk in a straight line to tree A. At the tree turn 90 degrees to the left and then walk forward the same number of steps. At the point where you stop drive a spike into the ground. Now return to the gallows and walk in a straight line, counting your steps, to tree B. When you reach the tree, turn 90 degrees to the right and take the same number of steps forward, placing another spike at the point where you stop. Dig at the point exactly halfway between the spikes and you will find the treasure."
However, our hero when he gets to the island finds the gallows missing. Is there any way he can still get to the treasure?

7. If you were to put a coin into an empty bottle and then insert a cork into the neck, how could you remove the coin without taking out the cork or breaking the bottle? cutting a hole in the cork?

8. Four children, Rob, Danny, Martha and Bent, had a race across the yard. Danny was as many places behind Martha as Bent was ahead of Rob. Martha was not first and Rob was not second. Who was first, second, third and fourth? Bent, Martha, Rob, Danny

9. What goes up when the rain comes down? (And no...this is not a weather question!) umbrella

10. At noon and midnight the hour and minute hands are exactly coincident with each other. How many other times between noon and midnight do the hour and minute hands cross? 11

[Bumper]

The Official Answers

1. Since a person running for 10 minutes would cover more distance than that same person would walking for 10 minutes, he would use more energy running for 10 minutes.

2. SWIMS

3. Scandals travel FAST ... 8 hours

4. Golfing

5. None. The rest of the crows flew away when they heard the gunshot.

6. A simple experiment with a ruler and paper shows that any position for the gallows leads to the same point

7. Push the cork into the bottle and shake the coin out!

8. First - Bent Second - Martha Third - Rob Fourth - Danny

9. An umbrella

10. Ten times (not eleven, as most people seem to think).

[SunKneeMarie]

Originally Posted by Bumper

The Official Answers

10. Ten times (not eleven, as most people seem to think).

hmmm... in addition to noon and midnight, where both hands are on the 12, I counted these 11 times:

1:05 (both hands on the 1)

2:10 (both hands on the 2)

3:15 (both hands on the 3)

4:20 (both hands on the 4)

5:25 (both hands on the 5)

6:30 (both hands on the 6)

7:35 (both hands on the 7)

8:40 (both hands on the 8)

9:45 (both hands on the 9)

10:50 (both hands on the 10)

11:55 (both hands on the 11)

[Jesus]

Originally Posted by SunKneeMarie

hmmm... in addition to noon and midnight, where both hands are on the 12, I counted these 11 times:

...

11:55 (both hands on the 11)

Eeeerrrrrr, sorry but at 11:55, the big one is above 11, but the small one is almost over 12. But at 10:55 both are together above 11.
Similar situation for the rest: at 9:50 both are almost above 10, but not exactly (like in the picture below).

[Bumper]

Originally Posted by SunKneeMarie

hmmm... in addition to noon and midnight, where both hands are on the 12, I counted these 11 times:

1:05 (both hands on the 1)

2:10 (both hands on the 2)

3:15 (both hands on the 3)

4:20 (both hands on the 4)

5:25 (both hands on the 5)

6:30 (both hands on the 6)

7:35 (both hands on the 7)

8:40 (both hands on the 8)

9:45 (both hands on the 9)

10:50 (both hands on the 10)

11:55 (both hands on the 11)

I gotta' agree with you, SKM. While Jesus is correct that the hands don't exactly align at 1:05, and the other times you've indicated, they do overlap at some point very close to that time, so that would qualify. I spent WAY too much time yesterday on the net trying to determine how the "10 not 11" answer came from, but was unable to find an explanation. The site I harvested the question from had no analysis. I'm with you, Char, and apologize for the misinformation and sloppy editorial practices on my part. Guess I'll just have to sit me down and give me a good talking to. (It'll likely happen again though. I'm a terrible listener, and largely untrainable, or so Mrs. B tells me.)

[SunKneeMarie]

Originally Posted by Bumper

I gotta' agree with you, SKM. While Jesus is correct that the hands don't exactly align at 1:05, and the other times you've indicated, they do overlap at some point very close to that time, so that would qualify. I spent WAY too much time yesterday on the net trying to determine how the "10 not 11" answer came from, but was unable to find an explanation. The site I harvested the question from had no analysis. I'm with you, Char, and apologize for the misinformation and sloppy editorial practices on my part. Guess I'll just have to sit me down and give me a good talking to. (It'll likely happen again though. I'm a terrible listener, and largely untrainable, or so Mrs. B tells me.)

Yay, you agree with me! So we're probably right (give or take the minute or two to get the overlap, like Jesus was saying). That means we are just far smarter than the originator of the question asked! Thanks for your fun features, Bump!!