I was thinking of that riddle...it was a story arc on Scrubs. The answer the janitor came up with was a penny and a 1972 dime with an imperfection worth $0.29.
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I'm being driven crazy...
- Thread starter iMacZealot
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As Rodeus mentioned, this figure can not be drawn without a break. This is basically a variant of the famous Königsberg problem. I'll try to explain:
We have five points where the lines intersect (usually called nodes). When we connect node A with B, and then B with C (or A again), the number of available lines at the node B is reduced by 2. Only with the first and the last line we draw, we can reduce the number of lines at the first and the last node by 1. So if we have two nodes with odd number of lines and all other other nodes with an even number, we can solve the problem. The same is true if all nodes have even number of lines - we just start and end at the same node. For all other cases, there are always nodes with only 1 line left, and these we cannot reach without retracing our path.
We have five points where the lines intersect (usually called nodes). When we connect node A with B, and then B with C (or A again), the number of available lines at the node B is reduced by 2. Only with the first and the last line we draw, we can reduce the number of lines at the first and the last node by 1. So if we have two nodes with odd number of lines and all other other nodes with an even number, we can solve the problem. The same is true if all nodes have even number of lines - we just start and end at the same node. For all other cases, there are always nodes with only 1 line left, and these we cannot reach without retracing our path.
So, today I did my exposé. (By the way, I'm surprised at how many people didn't know what that word meant when I said it today.) But first, I decided to bring it up with my geometry teacher, who surprisingly hasn't heard of this problem, let alone the Seven Bridges of Königsberg or graph theory. She's convinced that there's a way to solve it. That wasted a good ten or fifteen minutes of classtime. I'm going to talk about the Seven Bridges of Königsberg tomorrow. It's funny how people think it's really easy when they first attempt to solve it.
So, off to the source of the puzzle: the theology teacher. I was going to crash her class during my lunch period as many people often do, but it looked like today was one of the rare times where she was teaching something of quasi-importance, so I decided to come in after lunch but before my fourth period class. The kid who's splitting the prize was coincidentally in the room. The teacher was going off on a lecture to my friend about how he shouldn't be upset that he has to get glasses and be happy with the way God made him, etc., so I didn't really get a feel of if she believed or knew if it was solvable. She directed me to the kid splitting the prize, though he apparently "solved" it. However, the way he solved it was by essentially drawing a bubble letter X, but I told him that that technique was retracing but only leaving more space between the lines, an attempt I saw earlier in my geometry class from other kids. I was running late for my next class, so I called them both frauds and then left.
I'm planning on returning to talk to the teacher and see if she knows it's a trick puzzle.
So, off to the source of the puzzle: the theology teacher. I was going to crash her class during my lunch period as many people often do, but it looked like today was one of the rare times where she was teaching something of quasi-importance, so I decided to come in after lunch but before my fourth period class. The kid who's splitting the prize was coincidentally in the room. The teacher was going off on a lecture to my friend about how he shouldn't be upset that he has to get glasses and be happy with the way God made him, etc., so I didn't really get a feel of if she believed or knew if it was solvable. She directed me to the kid splitting the prize, though he apparently "solved" it. However, the way he solved it was by essentially drawing a bubble letter X, but I told him that that technique was retracing but only leaving more space between the lines, an attempt I saw earlier in my geometry class from other kids. I was running late for my next class, so I called them both frauds and then left.
I'm planning on returning to talk to the teacher and see if she knows it's a trick puzzle.
Draw the first line of the X then draw the box then the circle then do the last line of the X.
wait, it makes sense in my head..... I know it can be done.
No, it can't. You can't trace over your lines.
i have done it before. it was part of an iq test i did as part of a brain tumor clinical trial. it turned out i had the brain of a 26 year old when i was only 12 at the time
It has been proven through graph theory that it is impossible to do so without retracing or picking up your pen. How did you do it?
That is correct. This puzzle cannot be solved.
I too will be interested to see how he solved it.
he is completely full of it. This is some rather basic but not heavily though about facts.
Any one claiming to know how to do it is either wrong or full of it.
I will admit I though it was funny seeing how many people in this thread struggled with it. I think I and maybe one or 2 others took the time to see if it was even possible.
The kid who claimed he solved it did not do it correctly and cheated.