17 Apr 08
Originally posted by eldragonflyYes, but to get to the solution, you must keep track of sides, not cards.
Wrong. Then you couldn't perform the card trick as stated in the original, i.e. not the wikipedia page, word problem. You start of with three cards, then the gold/gold card is *magically* eliminated, leaving only two cards to choose from, the SS and the SG, by definition. Indeed this is the foundation of this paradox.
17 Apr 08
1 edit
Originally posted by PalynkaOthers have raised the exact same objections and made the same points, you can choose to ignore these facts at your own peril. 😉
There are two possibilities:
- eldragonfly is trolling this thread.
- eldragonfly doesn't have the cognitive abilities to understand why he's wrong.
Two options. Does that mean there's a 50/50 chance? Certainly not.
QED.
17 Apr 08
Originally posted by eldragonflyThe fact that you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.
kbaumen my bombastic and foolish friend, there is no solution to your poorly worded and errant three card problem.
Check the thread - http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=229352
It also has some discussion about the problem. You'll have to admit that people there are more knowledgeable.
17 Apr 08
4 edits
Originally posted by PBE6(a) population of new york > 200,000 by inspection
New problem!
Assume that no person has more than 200,000 hairs on their head.
(a) Prove that at least 2 people in New York City have the same number of hairs on their heads.
(b) Can you prove that this must be the case in Vatican City as well?
(c) Why do people with hair have more hair than people with hairs? 😉
(b) depends on the population of Vatican City, trivial
(c) deliberate nonsense.
17 Apr 08
Originally posted by PBE6This reminds me a lot of the Monty Hall problem.
This one comes from the Old West, apparently.
A man with a hat shows you 3 cards, one completely gold, one completely silver, and one gold on one side and silver on the other. He puts them in his hat, and picks one at random. He then shows you one side of the card he picked, which happens to be silver. Now he says "I'll bet you even money that the other side of this card is silver too...whaddaya say, partner?"
Is this bet a fair one?
17 Apr 08
Originally posted by PBE6Very well.
(a) You need one more step to prove the proposition.
n = number of hairs
n must be an integer lower than 200,000. There are therefore 200,000 possible different values of n. (Including baldness!) Assuming then 200,000 people have different amounts of hair then fine, but as there are more then one value of n is used at least more than once. Good enough?
17 Apr 08
Originally posted by BifrostYep, that proves it.
Very well.
n = number of hairs
n must be an integer lower than 200,000. There are therefore 200,000 possible different values of n. (Including baldness!) Assuming then 200,000 people have different amounts of hair then fine, but as there are more then one value of n is used at least more than once. Good enough?