Can you solve the birthday cake riddle? - Marie Brodsky
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Aka, turn all the candles off then count them starting from one candle that you turn on?
Date: 2022-01-20
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Comments and reviews: 9
Deepak
A Solution:
Guess the giant's age as a large number, for example n=50 here. lit 50 candles and turn off nth and (n+1)th candle. 50th and 51th here.
Now backtrack to the starting point. Untill you find the two unlit candles. (If you don't find find any candles guess a higher number)
Off=0 On=1(for calculations)
Now the results. If you find pattern as (when you are back tracking)
0, 00 (there are only two candles so this could be the scenario)
If it's 0, 100= three candles
If it's 0, 1100=4 candles
If it's 0, 11100= 5
0, 111100=6
0, 1111100=7
Basically keep counting untill you find two turned off candles.
Add these numbers(number till two turned off candles, exclude the nth candle) you will find the exact number of candles.
reply
A Solution:
Guess the giant's age as a large number, for example n=50 here. lit 50 candles and turn off nth and (n+1)th candle. 50th and 51th here.
Now backtrack to the starting point. Untill you find the two unlit candles. (If you don't find find any candles guess a higher number)
Off=0 On=1(for calculations)
Now the results. If you find pattern as (when you are back tracking)
0, 00 (there are only two candles so this could be the scenario)
If it's 0, 100= three candles
If it's 0, 1100=4 candles
If it's 0, 11100= 5
0, 111100=6
0, 1111100=7
Basically keep counting untill you find two turned off candles.
Add these numbers(number till two turned off candles, exclude the nth candle) you will find the exact number of candles.
reply
Wilburn
I've seen a lot of people suggesting turning off all the candles and then counting them by switching them off, with the problem being that you can never know you've turned them all off, as the giant could be even 1000 years old. However in a realistic scenario this would work; if we have seen the cake, and it's not too big, we won't have to walk for miles and know we've switched off all candles after a certain amount of time (same if it's bigger, calculate roughly the time you will walk depending on the size. The thing with this riddle is that for some reason you are not allowed to know any clue based on size and porportions of the very observable cake that you can clearly see.
reply
I've seen a lot of people suggesting turning off all the candles and then counting them by switching them off, with the problem being that you can never know you've turned them all off, as the giant could be even 1000 years old. However in a realistic scenario this would work; if we have seen the cake, and it's not too big, we won't have to walk for miles and know we've switched off all candles after a certain amount of time (same if it's bigger, calculate roughly the time you will walk depending on the size. The thing with this riddle is that for some reason you are not allowed to know any clue based on size and porportions of the very observable cake that you can clearly see.
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Tim
If the giant is max. 200 years old there are max. 200 candles.
Start at one candle and turn it on.
Then go round and turn all candels on and count every candle (on or off) and stop when you reach 200.
If the giant is 200 years old you have made one trip round.
If the giant is younger you made more than one trip round.
But now definitly all candles are on.
Switch one candle off and make one trip round till you reach your off candle.
Count the candles on the way and you have the age of the giant.
reply
If the giant is max. 200 years old there are max. 200 candles.
Start at one candle and turn it on.
Then go round and turn all candels on and count every candle (on or off) and stop when you reach 200.
If the giant is 200 years old you have made one trip round.
If the giant is younger you made more than one trip round.
But now definitly all candles are on.
Switch one candle off and make one trip round till you reach your off candle.
Count the candles on the way and you have the age of the giant.
reply
Moth
Faster solution - Turn the lights on and off in a pattern (2 on, 2 off, but make your starting point off from this pattern (3 on, 3 off. Count the candles as you go. Once you reach your break in the pattern, check the next set of candles. If they match the pattern, you counted them all. If not, it's a coincidence and you should keep going until you see another example of your starting setup
reply
Faster solution - Turn the lights on and off in a pattern (2 on, 2 off, but make your starting point off from this pattern (3 on, 3 off. Count the candles as you go. Once you reach your break in the pattern, check the next set of candles. If they match the pattern, you counted them all. If not, it's a coincidence and you should keep going until you see another example of your starting setup
reply
PenguinPaladin
Why not just turn two or three candles on at the start and make sure all other candles are off as we walk around? Especially if we make it a more specific pattern like three, since the pattern is more random, it'd be a more likely marker for the start. Plus we could even mark the starting candles themselves with some of the cake instead of marking the cake.
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Why not just turn two or three candles on at the start and make sure all other candles are off as we walk around? Especially if we make it a more specific pattern like three, since the pattern is more random, it'd be a more likely marker for the start. Plus we could even mark the starting candles themselves with some of the cake instead of marking the cake.
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Auroral
My answer is simple and applicable.
There hardly are possibilities of having 5 candels closed or 5 candles open in a row.
So i make one patern which is easy to recognise and keep it counting untill i meet the pattern again.
Also, while i follow the tunnel, the candles will rotate relatively. That will give me little ideas
reply
My answer is simple and applicable.
There hardly are possibilities of having 5 candels closed or 5 candles open in a row.
So i make one patern which is easy to recognise and keep it counting untill i meet the pattern again.
Also, while i follow the tunnel, the candles will rotate relatively. That will give me little ideas
reply
Mar
I think the solution is pretty simple,
Since i can wander through the tunnel as much as i wish, i will turn off all of the candles while counting them, then after i counted the 200th candle i encountered, i am now sure that all of them are turned off, now i can start turning them on and count how many actual candles there are.
reply
I think the solution is pretty simple,
Since i can wander through the tunnel as much as i wish, i will turn off all of the candles while counting them, then after i counted the 200th candle i encountered, i am now sure that all of them are turned off, now i can start turning them on and count how many actual candles there are.
reply
qasim
I would turn on all the candles coming in way until don't get any switched off candle. Turn off the candle that will be my mark and start counting or turn off all the candles coming in my way and count them until I reach my mark where I turned off the 1st candle.
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I would turn on all the candles coming in way until don't get any switched off candle. Turn off the candle that will be my mark and start counting or turn off all the candles coming in my way and count them until I reach my mark where I turned off the 1st candle.
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bagaskara_vi
How about this?
You take a walk on loop first to make sure every candle are off, after that. You now just have to lit one candle and start counting while walking till you see that one lit candle again. Isnt that easier or im missing something?
reply
How about this?
You take a walk on loop first to make sure every candle are off, after that. You now just have to lit one candle and start counting while walking till you see that one lit candle again. Isnt that easier or im missing something?
reply
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