Brain Teasers
The Murky River
You accidentally drop a couple of US cents into a murky river. You see one splash into the water, and you see the person on it is Lincoln. What is the probability of the second coin having Lincoln on it?
Answer
100%I told you there's only a couple of US cents.
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Comments
I guess you never heard of an Indian Cent (1859-1909) or the Flying Eagle Cent (1856-185 or the earlier large cents not to mention Canadian cents? I figured that the chance of a non-Lincoln cent in the USA would be small but greater than zero. So 100% is not correct.
if you have one lincoln cent, walking through some unidentified riverbed, drop a cent in the murky river, and have only one other in your pocket, then i don't think that leaves much room for any other probabilities.
I agree w/ Electronjohn. You asked the probability of the other cent having Lincoln on it, given no other information and making no other assumptions. So even if the probability that you would have a non-Lincoln cent in your pocket (who does?) is slim, it isn't zero, therefore 100% can't be correct.
The answer can not be 100% if not all cents carry Lincolns picture. As at no point do you tell us the the cent is a US cent then you could be anywhere in the world, using cents from any other country that uses system or currency.
i agree, but this teaser got chewed to death in editing.
if it was only a couple of cents why would he bother to pick it up
wait a minute...exactly why can't it be a nickel or dime? or even quarter?
excuse me for being bird-brained, but a couple of cents can be any number...
excuse me for being bird-brained, but a couple of cents can be any number...
What if you are not Amercian!
Feb 08, 2003
C'mon guys. It's creative. Good teaser, quit chewin it up
WILL SOMEBODY PLEESE EXPLAIN WHY IT CAN'T BE ANYTHING BUT A PENNY????????
Because a couple means two!
A couple doesn't mean two, it means around 1-3, but if you just say "a couple" you probably mean two. Otherwise, great teaser, stop picking it apart everyone. If you were in a different country, you'd just say who ever is on your penny instead of Lincoln.
Can we PLEASE have some more international teasers on this site?
This teaser would be good, but it's totally American. maybe there should be a section for country specific teasers.
This teaser would be good, but it's totally American. maybe there should be a section for country specific teasers.
Oh well I thought it was good probably b/c I'm American and so I was able to understand it. It does need to be more specific, though, about the coins both being American.
ok i'm sure there's some sort of rational explanation about why the second coin that is dropped cant have lincolns face on it, and i'd really appreciate it if someone explained it?
Hah. My first thought was that Lincoln was an actual person trying to rescue the coins...
lincoln has to be on the other coin because it says a couple meaning about 2 or 3 cents. if it was a nickel, dime or quater it would be more than a couple. a nickel is 5 which is more than 2 or 3 and the others are bigger than nickels. you get it now? I hope my explanation helped a little.
i didn't get it until after I read the answer. and the other coins someone else brung up like the canadian coins and things, i didnt even think of them
i didn't get it until after I read the answer. and the other coins someone else brung up like the canadian coins and things, i didnt even think of them
I have always been taught that a "couple" means "two", no more no less.
I like deekdotcom's comment the best out of all of these
I like deekdotcom's comment the best out of all of these
I said 0%, why? If Lincoln (THE Lincoln, assuming you were alive at the time he was) was on one of the coins, he couldn't of possibly been on the other...
But that makes you wonder why he WAS on a coin sinking in a river.
But that makes you wonder why he WAS on a coin sinking in a river.
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