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Don't think of the title in a dirty way :D

A man has a deadly disease and he needs to take 2 different pills a day to survive.

Let us consider the pills as A and B.

Both the pills are similar looking, has same smell and taste and whatever may be the feature, its same, but has different functionality.

There are 2 containers of pills. C1 with 30 A's and C2 with 30 B's and thats it. No other sources available for replenishment.

The man needs to survive for 30 days by taking one of each A and B per day. (Else he dies.)

The man is a careless idiot but is a regular follower of BrainDen.So, he is good at logic.

One day, as always, he tipped the C1 over his hand and got an A out. Without placing the A in a safe place, he tipped the C2 in the same hand and 2 B's fell out and got mixed up with the A already present in his hand. He has no means of distinguishing them.

Being good at logic, he is able to survive for 30 days. Can you find out how?

Edited by Mogli
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Hidden G Experienced

Hidden G

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well for a start he can put the 3 pills aside,and continue normally ,taking pills,than at day 29 he will have an A pill and the 3 extras ,however before he must take the pills sepparatly to know each one results(function) on his system. so at day 29 takes a random pill,and when it has it's function it could be : 1) A pill ,then he pick another pill witch has to be a B

2) B pill ,then he takes the surely A pill that he has.

And leave the 2 others for day 30

i hope it has logic :)

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well for a start he can put the 3 pills aside,and continue normally ,taking pills,than at day 29 he will have an A pill and the 3 extras ,however before he must take the pills sepparatly to know each one results(function) on his system. so at day 29 takes a random pill,and when it has it's function it could be : 1) A pill ,then he pick another pill witch has to be a B

2) B pill ,then he takes the surely A pill that he has.

And leave the 2 others for day 30

i hope it has logic :)

I would like to make it clear, that he has no means to distinguish. No recognizable bodily functions take place after taking a pill. No loopholes in that.

To clear any such doubts, let us consider that he has to take the pills at the same time.

BTW, use spoiler block next time.

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i cant understand.......how?

well for a start he can put the 3 pills aside,and continue normally ,taking pills,than at day 29 he will have an A pill and the 3 extras ,however before he must take the pills sepparatly to know each one results(function) on his system. so at day 29 takes a random pill,and when it has it's function it could be : 1) A pill ,then he pick another pill witch has to be a B

2) B pill ,then he takes the surely A pill that he has.

And leave the 2 others for day 30

i hope it has logic :)

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on 29th day, he cut half the pills and the one taken from C1...and take each half on 29th and 30th. That's how he survived!

Edited by bluecitrus
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Adds another A Pill to the mix, crushes the four pills and mixes the powder thoroughly. Has one half of the powder one day and the other half the next day. Alternatively, mixes the 4 pills in water. Has half a glass full one day and the other half the next day

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Guest

Guest

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He takes out another A pill and disolves all 4 pills in 8 oz of water.

He divides the water into 2 equal parts of 4 oz each and drinks one today and the other tomorrow.

He then continues to carefully take pills from then on.

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Guest

Guest

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He could not 100% guarantee survival. But if he took two of the pills, he'd have a 66.7% chance of survival. To maximize his life expectancy, he did what was described earlier and placed the three pills in a separate container until Day 29. Then he took the final A pill and a random "mixed" pill, knowing the odds were 2/3 he'd select a B pill and survive.

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k-man Proficient

k-man

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He takes another A pill and adds it to the 3. So now he has 2 A pills and 2 B pills. He splits all 4 pills in half taking care not to mix the halves. He takes 4 halves (1 from each pill) today and leaves the other 4 halves for tomorrow. Hopefully, he learned the lesson and will take care of getting the pills from the containers going forward.

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Hidden G Experienced

Hidden G

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He takes out another A pill and disolves all 4 pills in 8 oz of water.

He divides the water into 2 equal parts of 4 oz each and drinks one today and the other tomorrow.

He then continues to carefully take pills from then on.

i like it,it could be ,new way of dividing :P i

however K-man idea is the best one,totally great,brilliant!! :thumbsup:

Edited by Hidden G
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Guest

Guest

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Take another A pill out. Cut all 4 pills into 4 equal parts and then take 1 part from each pill to make a new 4 part pill that we know will have 2 parts B and 2 parts A. Take 2 of these now and the other 2 tomorrow and everything is back on track.

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Peekay Enthusiast

Peekay

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Add another pill from container A. Now you have 4 pills. Divide each into 2 parts, keeping them separate from the others. Now take one half from each group. You will have one A and one B. Take the rest of the halves the next day. And from then on - BE CAREFUL!!!

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Aaryan Veteran

Aaryan

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Adds another A Pill to the mix, crushes the four pills and mixes the powder thoroughly. Has one half of the powder one day and the other half the next day. Alternatively, mixes the 4 pills in water. Has half a glass full one day and the other half the next day

does not work because you cannot be sure that it has dissolved evenly.

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Aaryan Veteran

Aaryan

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Taking the pills for 29 days, then crossing the International Date Line from east to west - Voila! - 30 days...

perfect!

He takes another A pill and adds it to the 3. So now he has 2 A pills and 2 B pills. He splits all 4 pills in half taking care not to mix the halves. He takes 4 halves (1 from each pill) today and leaves the other 4 halves for tomorrow. Hopefully, he learned the lesson and will take care of getting the pills from the containers going forward.

That's even better!

Edited by Aaryan
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k-man Proficient

k-man

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Taking the pills for 29 days, then crossing the International Date Line from east to west - Voila! - 30 days...

perfect!

Um... not quite... If the suggestion is to discard these 3 pills then there isn't enough pills to survive 29 days. Not to mention that crossing the international date line merely changes the date, but won't add a day to your life. :dry:

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