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Topic: Duel (Read 5953 times) |
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alien2
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In this duel, there are two fat twins, Tom and David, identical in all respects, regarding their physique and health. They are alone, in a middle of a fight, currently fighting with fists on a flat surface, standing right between a loaded gun and an iron crowbar on the floor. The gun is seven meters away, the crowbar just a meter away, and there are no other weapons. So at one moment, David starts to run towards the crowbar, and this looked like a good opportunity to Tom, so he starts running towards the gun. But David wins, even though he didn't throw anything and both were running at the same speed. So how he won?
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Aryabhatta
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Re: Duel
« Reply #1 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 2:44pm » |
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Tom's fingers were too thick to press the trigger ?
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 2:45pm by Aryabhatta » |
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #2 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 2:46pm » |
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Was the crowbar eight meters long perchance?
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towr
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Re: Duel
« Reply #3 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 2:51pm » |
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empty gun?
David managed to pry open the lock of the arena and escape??
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Wikipedia, Google, Mathworld, Integer sequence DB
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #4 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 3:00pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 2:44pm, Aryabhatta wrote:| Tom's fingers were too thick to press the trigger ? |
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I like this answer. In fact, I decided to accept it.  But let us suppose, regarding the intended answer, that he could pull the trigger with his pinky. So regarding such scenario, any ideas? 
on Mar 26th, 2007, 2:46pm, denis wrote:| Was the crowbar eight meters long perchance? |
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No.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 2:51pm, towr wrote:
No. The gun was loaded. It even had the silencer. 
on Mar 26th, 2007, 2:51pm, towr wrote:| David managed to pry open the lock of the arena and escape?? |
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He didn't try to escape. Brave fellow. 
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Three Hands
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Re: Duel
« Reply #5 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:12pm » |
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Poor Tom, that run over 7 metres, in addition to the workout he'd had in the fist fight beforehand, proved too much for his heart to handle. David barely survived his 1 metre sprint, and is suspected to have died shortly after when attempting to leave the arena.
The fact they both knew and had employed Pei Mei's legendary Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique on each other didn't help much either...
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #6 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:16pm » |
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The crowbar was laying down on its back side with the hook facing up like this:
C____
Now David can pick it up by just bending down slightly without having to drop down to his knees.
However, the gun being closer to the ground and with Tom's big stomach required him to drop down to his knees to find and pick up the gun. Because of this he looses precious seconds while David has time to make up the two meter gap that was created between them when they ran in opposite directions.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:20pm by denis » |
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #7 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:31pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 4:16pm, denis wrote:The crowbar was laying down on its back side with the hook facing up like this:
C____
Now David can pick it up by just bending down slightly without having to drop down to his knees.
However, the gun being closer to the ground and with Tom's big stomach required him to drop down to his knees to find and pick up the gun. Because of this he looses precious seconds while David has time to make up the two meter gap that was created between them when they ran in opposite directions.
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Not bad, but not good enough. They are fat, but since it is a life threatening situation, I think that Tom's stomach woludn't be his major problem. If he had to, he would drop down to his knees like Superman. And if you watched sumo wrestling, you probably noticed how easily the fattest wrestlers bend their knees. Not a bad try, but not the answer I am looking for. And it was a regular crowbar, w/o the hook, if that is a regular crowbar to begin with. Dunno much about crowbars.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 4:12pm, Three Hands wrote:Poor Tom, that run over 7 metres, in addition to the workout he'd had in the fist fight beforehand, proved too much for his heart to handle. David barely survived his 1 metre sprint, and is suspected to have died shortly after when attempting to leave the arena.
The fact they both knew and had employed Pei Mei's legendary Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique on each other didn't help much either... |
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Heart failure was not the main reason he lost.
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #8 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:42pm » |
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Tom's first shot hits David in the shoulder. Not a fatal shot. Tom's fat finger is now stuck in the trigger such that the trigger cannot release to allow another shot giving David the time to hit Tom with the Crowbar (a slight variation to Aryabhatta's original solution).
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #9 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:47pm » |
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No. The finger didn't get stuck this time.
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spanchap
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Re: Duel
« Reply #10 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 4:55pm » |
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Let us say the two brothers move at x meters per second and the length of the crowbar is L.
David moves towards the crow bar, picks it up and moves back towards the gun and uses the crow bar to pull the gun towards himself. Let us say all this happens in time t.
Then tx + L = 9 (David's distance covered + crowbar length should be 9 meters) and Tom's distance covered is tx.
As long as tx < 7 and tx + L =9, David can pull the gun towards him and win. There are many different values of tx and L that satisfy the above condition which allows David to win.
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #11 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:00pm » |
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But Tom and David are running at the same speed. So by the time David gets to the crowbar, there are two meters between them because they are running in opposite directions (t is irrelevant here). In this case, L would have to be at least 2 meters for David to reach the gun with the crowbar before Tom. I don't know of any two meter crowbars.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:04pm by denis » |
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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
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Re: Duel
« Reply #12 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:01pm » |
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Because no man would be so angry enough with his brother to shoot him. He might hit him with crowbar, though.
Alternatively, Tom sees that David chose the less-lethal form of violence and realizes that his brother is acting more sensibly than he.
These are not the intended, though. I'll think on this one.
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #13 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:07pm » |
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The pistol is a pellet gun?
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spanchap
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Re: Duel
« Reply #14 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:08pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:00pm, denis wrote:| But Tom and David are running at the same speed. So by the time David gets to the crowbar, there are two meters between them because they are running in opposite directions (t is irrelevant here). In this case, L would have to be at least 2 meters for David to reach the gun with the crowbar before Tom. I don't know of any two meter crowbars. |
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Actually I have used a 2m crowbar. So I know they exist
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:10pm by spanchap » |
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #15 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:10pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:01pm, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:| Because no man would be so angry enough with his brother to shoot him. He might hit him with crowbar, though. |
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How you figure? You have a fat brother too? 
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:01pm, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:| Alternatively, Tom sees that David chose the less-lethal form of violence and realizes that his brother is acting more sensibly than he. |
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No deep emotions were involved here. Except for hate. Brothers usually love each other. Not in this riddle though.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 4:55pm, spanchap wrote:Let us say the two brothers move at x meters per second and the length of the crowbar is L.
David moves towards the crow bar, picks it up and moves back towards the gun and uses the crow bar to pull the gun towards himself. Let us say all this happens in time t.
Then tx + L = 9 (David's distance covered + crowbar length should be 9 meters) and Tom's distance covered is tx.
As long as tx < 7 and tx + L =9, David can pull the gun towards him and win. There are many different values of tx and L that satisfy the above condition which allows David to win. |
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No fancy math is an issue here.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:20pm by alien2 » |
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #16 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:11pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:08pm, spanchap wrote:
Actually I have used a 2m crowbar .So I know they exist |
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OK I stand corrected... Never seen one before but I just found one on google.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:12pm by denis » |
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spanchap
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Re: Duel
« Reply #17 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:14pm » |
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Are there different types of guns for right handed and left handed people? (I have no clue about guns).
If yes, then the gun was left handed and Tom was right handed and could not pull the trigger easily.
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Padfoot
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Re: Duel
« Reply #18 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:14pm » |
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When Tom gets to the gun, he realizes that the cleaver David has glued the gun to the ground... Ouch!
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:18pm by Padfoot » |
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #19 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:17pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:14pm, spanchap wrote:Are there different types of guns for right handed and left handed people? (I have no clue about guns).
If yes, then the gun was left handed and Tom was right handed and could not pull the trigger easily. |
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A bit silly.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:07pm, denis wrote:| The pistol is a pellet gun? |
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No. It is a real gun.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:08pm, spanchap wrote:
Actually I have used a 2m crowbar. So I know they exist |
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It was not that long.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:14pm, Padfoot wrote:| When Tom gets to the gun, he realizes that the cleaver David has glued the gun to the ground... Ouch! |
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No such luck.
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Padfoot
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Re: Duel
« Reply #20 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:26pm » |
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Could this have happoned if the twins were not fat? I'm assuming not, just want to make sure.
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"Don't blame me. I'm just an interpreter. I'm not supposed to know a power socket from a computer terminal." - C-3PO, Star WarsV
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spanchap
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Re: Duel
« Reply #21 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:31pm » |
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Since Iceman already characterized my suggestion of a left handed gun as being silly  , I have decided to justify his accusation by providing a really silly and actually quite simple solution.
David was the "One" (similar to Neo in Matrix) and Tom was really a robot from beyond the matrix (who was swapped with David's real twin at the hospital when they were born). All David ("The One") had to do was to gently swat the bullets and they all fell at his feet. Taking care of Tom was then a child's play.
Note: Nobody else has figured this solution as everybody else is still "in the Matrix".
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:39pm by spanchap » |
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denis
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Re: Duel
« Reply #22 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:36pm » |
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Tom is exausted after a 7 meter dash and is panting heavily. He cannot aim a pistol when he is breathing so hard and his heart pounding and needs to catch his breath (ask a Biathalon athlete how difficult it is to aim their target rifle after they stop to ski, even when they are in good shape).
Now David with the crowbar needs no precision whatsoever. Just swing in the general direction of Tom when he gets close enough even when he himself is breathing hard and heart pounding.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:45pm by denis » |
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Lightboxes
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Re: Duel
« Reply #23 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 5:45pm » |
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alien2
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Re: Duel
« Reply #24 on: Mar 26th, 2007, 6:46pm » |
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on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:26pm, Padfoot wrote:| Could this have happoned if the twins were not fat? |
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Well...............................................
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:31pm, spanchap wrote:Since Iceman already characterized my suggestion of a left handed gun as being silly , I have decided to justify his accusation by providing a really silly and actually quite simple solution.
David was the "One" (similar to Neo in Matrix) and Tom was really a robot from beyond the matrix (who was swapped with David's real twin at the hospital when they were born). All David ("The One") had to do was to gently swat the bullets and they all fell at his feet. Taking care of Tom was then a child's play.
Note: Nobody else has figured this solution as everybody else is still "in the Matrix". |
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I still don't know what a matrix is.
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:36pm, denis wrote:Tom is exausted after a 7 meter dash and is panting heavily. He cannot aim a pistol when he is breathing so hard and his heart pounding and needs to catch his breath (ask a Biathalon athlete how difficult it is to aim their target rifle after they stop to ski, even when they are in good shape).
Now David with the crowbar needs no precision whatsoever. Just swing in the general direction of Tom when he gets close enough even when he himself is breathing hard and heart pounding.
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Err......... what??
on Mar 26th, 2007, 5:45pm, Lightboxes wrote:
Nah.
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