Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [puzzle]

For questions about the mathematical principles behind puzzle, games, riddles, or their possible solutions. Questions that are not strictly mathematical in nature should be asked on Puzzling Stack Exchange.

Many puzzles, games, and riddles are based on mathematical concepts. This tag is for questions that ask about the mathematics behind a puzzle, game, or riddle, or about the solutions to mathematical puzzles.

If you already know the answer to the puzzle you are posting, you might consider posting your question on Puzzling Stack Exchange, instead. If you do end up posting your question on Mathematics Stack Exchange (MSE), please read the following meta posts on these kinds of questions before asking your question:

If you do end up posting on MSE, please make it clear in your question that you are "puzzling" the community and that you will be answer the question yourself if no one in the community posts your desired solution.

3301 questions
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Can you find the lighter and heavier marbles?

You have $10$ bags with marbles. Each bag has $2000$ marbles. Standard marbles weight $10$g. However, one bag has marbles that all weight $9$g and one bag has marbles that all weight $11$g. If you can only use a scale once (one that displays the…
user235603
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find chair in survivor problem

Complete Question Text: Take a second to imagine that you are in a room with 100 chairs arranged in a circle. These chairs are numbered sequentially from One to One Hundred. At some point in time, the person in chair #1 will be told to leave …
david
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KenKen puzzles. Minimum number of "clues" to uniquely define nxn grid.

I recently discovered the "KenKen" puzzle and have been trying to figure out some of the mathematics behind it. This led me to the following question: Given an N x N grid, what is the minimum number of filled-in spaces ("clues") needed to define a…
Francis
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Josephus' Puzzle Basic Java with some basic math.

So I was trying to write a little java program that would solve [Josephus' Problem][1]. The one where you have a certain amount of people in a circle and then a count where every 3rd, 4th or what have you is eliminated, until there is only one…
Sh0gun
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A very simple math puzzle: An object O weights 1 N and the half of the weight of object O. What is the weight of object O?

So, today I came across a very simple (or so I though) math puzzle. If this is the wrong StackExchange please point me to the right place to ask. The puzzle goes as such: An object O weights 1 N and the half of the weight of object O. What is the…
lightxx
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How to approach more Puzzle-like problems (octagon, intersection points)

In physics I understand the situation and can derive formulas to describe it. But when it comes to more puzzle-like math problems like this: "All 20 diagonals are drawn in a regular octagon. At how many distinct points in the interior of the…
Arcthor
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The merchant and the fake coin

Next is a riddle that I found interesting and I decide to share it with you. Try solve it by yourself before reading the answer. A merchant has 13 fair gold coins with one fake among them. The fake coin have been made by a skillful thief and look…
Ilya Gazman
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Find appropriate number fill in the blanks

Find appropriate number fill in the blanks
Rain
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Puzzle - Finding which balls are heavy

Puzzle my sister told me about, I've yet to solve it and im open to ideas. You have 6 balls, 2 red ones, 2 blue ones, and 2 green ones. Out of each pair, 1 is heavy and 1 is light (so overall you have 3 light balls and 3 heavy balls). All the light…
Oria Gruber
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Can this be proven for any maze?

http://9gag.com/gag/aKgrQDj Is there a maze that can't be solved simply by following that strategy. Assumption Solution must exist Sticking your hand to the right or left don't solve that.
user4951
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Figuring out the amount of 'straight edge' pieces in a puzzle?

I was wondering if there was any set way to determine the number of 'straight edge' pieces in a puzzle, assuming the pieces are all in neat rows and columns? Does the ratio of edge pieces to middle pieces alter when we use different puzzles with…
Ice Tigress
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The Special Table

Consider a $n\times n$ table which is filled with numbers $1,2,3,...,n^2$ (in no particular order).We'd call such table "Special" if the sum of each column and each row and each diameter is a constant number.For what $n$s do we have a Special Table?
Minuano
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$a^4+b^2+c^2=2014$

Word for word: The equation $a^4+b^2+c^2=2014$ has a unique integer solution in positive integers. For this solution, find $a+b+c$. A. 56 B. 58 C. 60 D. 62 E. 64 This is a tricky one. And apparently there's a way to solve it without calculus.
Gᴇᴏᴍᴇᴛᴇʀ
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Game of Life receptor

I am looking for an interesting structure in the game of life. If left alone, it shouldn't expand a lot(Still lifes or oscillators are allowed), but if we add an life somewhere, it launches an rocket. Link to the Wikipedia page: THE GAME OF LIFE
user2977079
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Puzzle - where did the extra dollar come from?

Possible Duplicate: Riddle (simple arithmetic problem/illusion) I have this small story (sorry about my bad English) : One man (M) took 25 dollar from man (A), and another 25 dollar from man (B), so now man (M) has 50 dollar. Man (M) spent 45…
Adban
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