Problems

A toddler has \(25\) lego pieces in a box:

• In how many ways are there to choose three pieces to play with?

• In how many ways can he choose three pieces for the foundation, main walls and roof? Note that the order is important.

Cut the shape (see the figure) into two identical pieces (coinciding when placed on top of one another).

Gabby is standing on a river bank. She has two clay jars: one – for 5 litres, and about the second Gabby remembers only that it holds either 3 or 4 litres. Help Gabby determine the capacity of the second jar. (Looking into the jar, you cannot figure out how much water is in it.)

On Brennan’s birthday, the postman Daniel wants to find out how old Brennan is. Sarah says that Brennan is over 11 years old, and Matt claims that he is more than 10 years old. How old is Brennan, if it is known that exactly one of them was mistaken? Justify your answer.

In the garden of Sandra and Lewis 2006 rose bushes were growing. Lewis watered half of all the bushes, and Sandra watered half of all the bushes. At the same time, it turned out that exactly three bushes, the most beautiful, were watered by both Sandra and Lewis. How many rose bushes have not been watered?

In a physics club, the teacher created the following experiment. He spread out 16 weights of weight 1, 2, 3, ..., 16 grams onto weighing scales, so that one of the bowls outweighed the other. Fifteen students in turn left the classroom and took with them one weight each, and after each student’s departure, the scales changed their position and outweighed the opposite bowl of the scales. What weight could remain on the scales?

There is a \(5\times 9\) rectangle drawn on squared paper. In the lower left corner of the rectangle is a button. Kevin and Sophie take turns moving the button any number of squares either to the right or up. Kevin goes first. The winner is the one who places the button in upper right corner. Who would win, Kevin or Sophie, by using the right strategy?

There are \(12\) aliens in the High Council of the planet of liars and truth tellers. “There is no-one honest here,” said the first member of the council. “There is at most one honest person here,” said the second person. The third person said that there are at most \(2\) honest members, the fourth person said there are at most \(3\) honest aliens, and so on until the twelfth person, who said there are at most \(11\) honest aliens. How many honest members are in the High Council?

The bank of the Nile was approached by a group of six people: three Bedouins, each with his wife. At the shore is a boat with oars, which can withstand only two people at a time. A Bedouin can not allow his wife to be without him whilst in the company of another man. Can the whole group cross to the other side?

The surface of a \(3\times 3\times 3\) Rubik’s Cube contains 54 squares. What is the maximum number of squares we can mark, so that no marked squares share a vertex or are directly adjacent to another marked square?