[AccessD] OT: Friday Puzzles

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Sat Apr 24 21:23:59 CDT 2010


Personally I think the general should be fired.  Such carnage should be a war crime.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com


William Hindman wrote:
> ...maybe :)
> 
> ...this is a version of Lewis Carroll's original pensioner's puzzle ...and 
> if Arthur had not changed the final question, 10 would be the correct answer
> 
> ...but he did, as follows:
> 
> "The general wants to know how many of his men had lost, at minimum, one 
> eye,
> one ear, one arm and one leg. He is stingy with the medals so he wants to
> reward the fewest number of soldiers. What percentage of the soldiers should
> receive medals?
> 
> ...if the query were what was the minimum % of soldiers who had lost all 4 
> body parts, the answer would be 10%
> 
> ...but the query was "how many of his men had lost, at minimum, one eye,
> one ear, one arm and one leg" and that could be anywhere between 10% and 70% 
> ...there is insufficient data to provide an answer to the query posited 
> ...imnsho of course :)
> 
> William
> 
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Kevin" <thewaddles at sbcglobal.net>
> Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2010 2:23 PM
> To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'" 
> <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Friday Puzzles
> 
>> OK...
>> I would like to revise and extend my remarks...
>> Assuming an army of 100, 10 lost all 4
>>
>> 70 lost an eye
>> So 30 did NOT lose an eye
>> 75 lost an ear
>> So 25 did NOT lose an ear
>> 80 lost an arm
>> So 20 did NOT lose an arm
>> 85 lost a leg
>> So 15 did NOT lose an leg
>>
>> The soldiers that retained at least one of the body parts is 90 
>> (30+25+20+15
>> = 90) meaning that 10 lost all 4.
>>
>> Kevin Waddle
>> "The time has come," the Walrus said,
>> "To talk of many things:
>> Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
>> Of cabbages--and kings--
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Shamil
>> Salakhetdinov
>> Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2010 10:22 AM
>> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT: Friday Puzzles
>>
>> That's wrong, and a bit(?)/plain(?) stupid, sorry. Any, takers? (I'm off
>> till tomorrow's late evening/Monday).
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> --Shamil
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Shamil Salakhetdinov [mailto:shamil at smsconsulting.spb.ru]
>> Sent: Saturday, April 24, 2010 7:30 PM
>> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
>> Subject: RE: [AccessD] OT: Friday Puzzles
>>
>> 8925 medals.
>>
>> Correct?
>>
>> x = size of the army
>> y = qty of soldiers who have lost one arm, one leg, one ear and one eye;
>>
>> y = 0.85*(1-0.8)*0.75*0.7x
>>
>> Assuming that army size is between 100,000+ and 150,000
>> (
>> http://www.secondworldwar.co.uk/units.html
>> http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/l/blchancommand.htm
>> )
>>
>> the anwers would be
>>
>> foreach (int x in Enumerable.Range(100000,50001))
>> {
>>    decimal y = 0.85m * (1.0m-0.8m) * 0.75m * 0.7m * x;
>>
>>    if (y == (decimal)(int)y)
>>        Console.WriteLine("// SizeOfTheArmy={0:#,0}+, Medals={1} ",
>>            x, (decimal)(int)y);
>> }
>>
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=100,000+, Medals=8925
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=104,000+, Medals=9282
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=108,000+, Medals=9639
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=112,000+, Medals=9996
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=116,000+, Medals=10353
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=120,000+, Medals=10710
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=124,000+, Medals=11067
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=128,000+, Medals=11424
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=132,000+, Medals=11781
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=136,000+, Medals=12138
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=140,000+, Medals=12495
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=144,000+, Medals=12852
>> // SizeOfTheArmy=148,000+, Medals=13209
>>
>> As we do not have the general's army size defined but we know that general
>> wanted to reward teh fewest number of soldiers then we select the minimal
>> appropriate army size = 100,000 soldiers, and then the answer will be 8925
>> medals.
>>
>> Correct?
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>> --Shamil
>>
>> <<< snip >>>
>>
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> 



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