Zer0's Conundrum #5 has been solved. No additional prizes will be given out. Stay tuned for future conundrums... Welcome to... Zer0's Conundrum #5 So, in Zer0's conundrum, Zer0 will post a problem (usually math or computer science related) and you will have to solve it! First user who solves the problem will win a prize! If no one gets it within a week, there will be no winner for that week. Post your answer here! Rules One entry per person per contest You MUST provide justification (proofs, etc) along with your answer otherwise it WILL NOT count! No collaboration (I don't understand why you would want to...) No looking up the answer or asking someone for the answer No computer programs unless otherwise specified This Week's Prize... 10 forum cash! 50k NP courtesy of Dark! If you win, PM him your neo username to claim your prize! and +rep for an elegant solution This Week's Conundrum... Let's say I have 3 cups faced upside-down and I place a ball under one of the cups without you knowing where it is. I ask you to guess under which cup the ball is located. Then, I show you the cup that you didn't pick and doesn't have the ball. That leaves two cups: one with the ball and one without it. If I allow you to change your guess, would you and why? Or does it not matter? e.g. 3 cups: A, B, and C I place the ball under cup B You guess cup A I reveal that cup C doesn't have the ball Should you keep your guess that cup A has the ball, or change your guess to being cup C having the ball? Or does it not matter? Remember, answers must include proper reasoning otherwise they will not be considered at all.
Re: Zer0's Conundrum #5 Yes i would change cup, as this would improve my chances of winning. If i picked cup a, and kept my choice, that means I have a 1/3 chance of winning. If i pick cup a, and change my choice, that now means I have 2/3 a chance of winning instead of 1/3. badly worded but i understand myself
Re: Zer0's Conundrum #5 /post. SoC got to it. :maha: Swap. There is a 1/3 chance you already have it right, but when you swap, there is a 2/3 chance the ball is under the cup you didn't pick up. This was logical in my head... When you first picked a cup at random, you had a 2/3 chance of being incorrect. With one cup eliminated, you now only have a 1/3 chance of being incorrect if you swap. Does that help?
Re: Zer0's Conundrum #5 switch if I didnt get it the first time...that means there's only one other wrong one (which you will have to reveal...since you're not going to reveal the right one) so 2/3 chance to win if I switch as opposed to 1/3 this is actually a very popular/common problem called the Monty hall problem (or paradox...forgot what it's called exactly) edit: ugh...you people post too fast
Re: Zer0's Conundrum #5 as for my prize, you can keep it but you can rename this: Help and Suggestions If you have a question or a suggestion, post here. Subforums: Help, Suggestions PLEASE RENAME IT TO SITE HELP AND SITE SUGGESTIONS! AND CHANGE THE DESCRIPTION SO ANNOYING1
I wouldn't change. You're fairly certain that I know about the "Monty Hall problem" so you decide to "give me a chance" to be correct and change my selection. Of course I had the answer correct in the first place and now that I've been suckered into changing, I'm now wrong. However if I had picked the wrong cup in the first place, still knowing that I would change cups if you showed an empty cup and given the option, you decide on not showing a wrong answer or allowing me to change.
haha Phee... Your new avvie is infinitely more girly than your previous one XD Come to think of it, what was your previous one a picture of? pandoo, why'd you change your pro avvie?
the snowman remember? and because i got sick of the default avatars...they're so ugly D:...I am quite tempted to remake them D:<<<<<
LOL, that was the snowman?? From the cropped version it looked like some hideous deformed rat D: But you weren't using the default mod avatar... You had this super pro pando thingy...