Category: Insight

You are given 4 identical glasses, completely filled with transparent, odorless liquids. Three of the liquids are pure water, and the fourth is poison, which is slightly heavier. If the water glasses weigh 250 grams each, and the poisoned glass weighs 260 grams, how can you figure out which one is which, using a measuring scale just once?

Empty the first glass, fill around 1/4th of it with liquid from the second glass, and the rest 3/4ths with liquid from the third glass. Then, measure the first and fourth glasses simultaneously. If their total weight is:

– 500 grams -> the first glass is (was) the poisoned one
– between 500 and 505 grams -> the second glass is the poisoned one
– between 505 and 510 grams -> the third glass is the poisoned one
– 510 grams -> the fourth glass is the poisoned one

You have a glass with perfectly cylindrical shape which has some water in it. How can you figure out if the glass is exactly half full without using any measurement tools (like a ruler)?

Use the geometry of the cylinder. Start tilting the glass until the water surface gets either to the top or the bottom edge. If the glass is exactly half full, then the surface should touch both edges simultaneously.

Cross out nine letters so that the remaining letters spell a single word.

N A I S N I E N L G E L T E T W E O R R S D

Cross out every other letter starting with the first one – N I N E L E T T E R S.

The remaining letters are – A S I N G L E W O R D.