Brain Teasers & Puzzles

 

Can you solve all 6? (answer at the bottom).

 

1. The Pole-Climbing Sloth

A slippery sloth climbs six feet up a utility pole during the day, then slides back down five feet during the night. If the pole is 30 feet high and the sloth starts from the ground (zero feet), how many days does it take the sloth to reach the top of the pole?

2. Counting Money

I had a wad of money in my pocket. I gave half away and of what remained, I spent half. Then, I lost five pounds. That left me with just five quid. How much money did I start with?

3. Car Park

What is the number of the occupied parking spot?

 

4. Ice Cubes

You have a glass of water and an ice cube floating in it. When the ice cube melts, will the water level increase, decrease or remain the same?

 

 

 

 

 

5. The Number Row

The numbers one through 10, below, are listed in an order. What is the rule that causes them to be in this order?

8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2

 

6. Riddle

Its the beginning of eternity,
the end of time and space
The beginning of every end,
and the end of every place.
What am I?

 

 

Answers

1. 25 days. The maths here boils down to a net gain of one foot per day, along with a threshold (24 feet at the beginning of a day) that must be attained so that the sloth can get to the 30-foot mark within a given day. After 24 days and 24 nights, the sloth is 24 feet up. On that 25th day, the sloth scrambles up six feet, attaining the 30-foot top of the pole.
   £40.
2. 87 - The numbers are upside down.
3. It will remain the same. The amount of water which the ice cube displaces is equal to its mass. Since the mass does not change and the density of water is equal to 1, the extra water after melting will be the same amount as the displaced water before that.
4. The numbers are ordered alphabetically, based on their English spelling: eight, five, four, nine, one, seven, six, ten, three, two.
5. The letter E.