superprismatic Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 The words of a problem are numbered in lexicographical order. Then the first word of the problem is written in the position denoted by 1, the second word in the position denoted by 2, etc. The result is: "five random order is eight that numbers six one square four are the what a written digit is resulting number probability and three in down the the." Solve the (mathematical) problem. SUPERPRISMATIC'S ATTEMPT AT CLARIFICATION: Suppose the original (mathematical) problem were "two plus three add to what number?" first we label each of the 7 word positions 1,2,3, etc. in alphabetical order. Since "add" is first alphabetically, we label it 1, since "number" is second alphabetically, we label it 2, etc. Writing the sentence above the labels, we get "two plus three add to what number" 6 3 4 1 5 7 2 So, we place the first word ("two") into the position labelled 1, the second word ("plus") into the position labelled 2, etc. Thus, our result is 6 3 4 1 5 7 2 "what three add two to number plus". So, had the puzzle had this result instead of "five random order is eight....", the answer to the (mathematical) problem would have been 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 What is the probability that the numbers one, three, four, six, eight are written down in random order and the resulting five digit number is a square Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 superprismatic Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 What is the probability that the numbers one, three, four, six, eight are written down in random order and the resulting five digit number is a square This can't be the problem because the statement in the problem would have ended "what the" instead of "the the" which it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 ive tried to work it out and what Ive got so far i dont think the puzzle starts with "what" based on you have to make a choice based on "the" and neither work. im guess "are" first, "is" second, and last choice is "in". Not sure tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 gadaju was on the right track. The numbers one, three, four, six, and eight are written down in random order. What is the probability that the resulting five-digit number is a square? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 (edited) Therefore... There are (I believe) 5 numbers that fit those criteria: 16384 = 1282, 31684 = 1782, 36481 = 1912, 38416 = 1962, and 43681 = 2092. And there are 120 ways to arrange five numbers randomly (5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 120). So, the probability would be 5/120 = 1/24 = 41/6% Edited July 31, 2009 by nuclearlemons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 gadaju was on the right track. The numbers one, three, four, six, and eight are written down in random order. What is the probability that the resulting five-digit number is a square? Thanks NL: As a linguist, I figured that we could just try to make a syntax-valid sentence using the given parts of speech. In a few minutes, I came up my sentence, which you'll notice is semantically identical (in terms of what is given and what is being asked) to the original, un-encoded question. What I thought was interesting was that I could answer question 2 regardless of how the words in the question 1 were jumbled. In fact, i put the words in alphabetical order to "solve" question 1 using regular old inference and syntax rules. Did you decode the message using a process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
superprismatic
The words of a problem are numbered in lexicographical
order. Then the first word of the problem is written
in the position denoted by 1, the second word in the
position denoted by 2, etc. The result is: "five
random order is eight that numbers six one square four
are the what a written digit is resulting number
probability and three in down the the." Solve the
(mathematical) problem.
SUPERPRISMATIC'S ATTEMPT AT CLARIFICATION:
Suppose the original (mathematical) problem
were "two plus three add to what number?"
first we label each of the 7 word positions
1,2,3, etc. in alphabetical order. Since
"add" is first alphabetically, we label it 1,
since "number" is second alphabetically, we
label it 2, etc. Writing the sentence above
the labels, we get
"two plus three add to what number"
6 3 4 1 5 7 2
So, we place the first word ("two") into
the position labelled 1, the second word
("plus") into the position labelled 2, etc.
Thus, our result is
6 3 4 1 5 7 2
"what three add two to number plus".
So, had the puzzle had this result instead
of "five random order is eight....", the
answer to the (mathematical) problem would
have been 5.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
6 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.