IQ: Psychologist Test for Mathematical Insight

[Cloudpatrol]

give me more brain tests.

Your wish is my command.

This is a test used by Psychologist's to determine:

Mathematical Insight



1. Smith Family: In the Smith family, there are 7 sisters and each sister has 1 brother. If you count Mr. Smith, how many males are there in the Smith family?

Solution: Two( the father and the brother)

2. Water lilies: Water lilies double in area every 24 hours. At the beginning of summer there is one water lily on the lake. It takes 60 days for the lake to become completely covered with water lilies. On which day is the lake half covered?

Solution: Day 59 then it doubles on the 60th

3. Socks: If you have black socks and brown socks in your drawer, mixed in a ratio of 4 to 5, how many socks will you have to take out to make sure that you have a pair the same color?

Solution: Three - if the first is brown and the second black then the third one will match either the brown or black.

4. Eyes: Yesterday I went to the zoo and saw the giraffes and ostriches. Altogether they had 30 eyes and 44 legs. How many animals were there?

Solution: 15 (30 eyes each animal has 2 eyes = 30/2)

5. Horse: A man bought a horse for $60 and sold it for $70. Then he bought it back for $80 and sold it for $90. How much did he make or lose in the horse trading business?

Solution: $20: made $10 on the first deal and $10 on the second deal.

6. Weights: There are ten bags, each containing ten weights, all of which look identical. In nine of the bags each weight is 16 ounces, but in one of the bags the weights are actually 17 ounces each. How is it possible, in a single weighing on an accurate weighing scale, to determine which bag contains the 17-ounce weights?

Solution: Take 1 from the 1st bag, 2 from the 2nd, 3 from the 3rd etc. Then weigh all those coins. If all the bags weigh 16 ounces you will have 55 ounces (10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1). Any amount in excess of the 55 ounces will determine which bag contains the 17 ounces (two ounces over = bag 2 ,if it is 7 ounces over = bag 7 etc)

7. Price: What is the minimum number of coins you need to be able to pay the exact price of any item costing anywhere from one cent up to one dollar? The coins are pennies (1 cent), nickels (5 cents), dimes (10 cents), quarters (25 cents) and half dollars (50 cents)?

Solution: 8 (Four pennies, one nickels, two dimes, one quarters, and one half dollar).

8. Frog: A frog fell into a well thirty-two feet deep. Each day he jumped two feet up the wall and slid back down one foot each night. How many days did it take him to jump out of the well?

Solution: 30 (not 31 - he didn’t slide back down once he was out).

9. Coins: Which would be worth more, a pound of $10 pure gold coins or half a pound of $20 pure gold coins; or would they be worth the same? Explain your answer.

Solution: A pound of gold is worth more than half a pound.

10. Earth: It is estimated that the earth weighs 6 sextillion tons. How much more would the earth weigh if 1 sextillion tons of concrete and stone were used to build a wall?

Solution: Still 6 sextillion (the concrete and stone were already part of the earth when it was weighed).

11. Fill in the blank:
2, 4, 6, 30, 32, 34, 36, 40, 42, 44, 46, 50, 52, 54, 56, 60, 62, 64, 66, ___?

Solution: 2000 (it is the next number without an “e” in it).

12. A man had a 2 dollar bill and wanted to buy a train ticket that cost 3 dollars. He took the 2 dollar bill to a pawn shop where he pawned it for $1.50. On the way to the train station, he met a friend to whom he sold the pawn ticket for $1.50. He then had 3 dollars with which to buy his ticket. Who was out the extra dollar?

Solution: The friend. He paid $1.50 for a pawn ticket. He still has to pay $1.50 at the pawnshop to get the 2 dollar bill, so he has spent $3 for a $2 bill.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Shouldn't question 5 be:

$10? He loses the first $10 he makes buying the horse the second time.

I got 6 out of 12 right.

 

[Hawthorne]

Shouldn't question 5 be:

$10? He loses the first $10 he makes buying the horse the second time.

neigh. he starts with 60 in his pocket and ends with 90. deduct the $10 from that, not the intermediate profit.

 

[Cloudpatrol]

Hmmm, I will definitely grant a prize if someone finds an error

That would be delicious!
[MENTION=4660]Osprey[/MENTION] [MENTION=23915]Hawthorne[/MENTION]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

neigh. he starts with 60 in his pocket and ends with 90. deduct the $10 from that, not the intermediate profit.

Actually, it makes more sense to me if

You add up the total of how much he spent to buy it, which is 140, and subtract it from the total of how much he sold it for, which is 160.... then you get the twenty dollars.

 

[Coriolis]

Actually, it makes more sense to me if

You add up the total of how much he spent to buy it, which is 140, and subtract it from the total of how much he sold it for, which is 160.... then you get the twenty dollars.

I prefer to play bank in my head: See $60 going out, then $70 going in, then $80 going out, then $90 going in.
[MENTION=27162]Cloudpatrol[/MENTION]: these are rather better than the others.

 

[prplchknz]

i got 4 and 8 right the rest um i'm not good at math.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Shouldn't question 5 be:

$10? He loses the first $10 he makes buying the horse the second time.

I got 6 out of 12 right.

For this one I just visualized it on an x axis and started at point 0, moving back and forth accordingly with each transaction. If you start at 60 (which I did at first), it's easier to get tripped up.
[MENTION=27162]Cloudpatrol[/MENTION], I'll do the rest at my lunch break today.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

The wording on number 1 tripped me up at first.

 

[Coriolis]

The wording on number 1 tripped me up at first.

The math in these is trivial. Many are as much based in language as those on the other test. The only one I did not get is 11, the series, because of the nature of the series as described in the spoiler.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

The math in these is trivial. Many are as much based in language as those on the other test. The only one I did not get is 11, the series, because of the nature of the series as described in the spoiler.

Yeah, these aren't tests for mathematicians so much as they're tests for people with lawyers' minds.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

4 is easy

15 - Ignore the legs part of the question. Classic puzzle where they try to trip you up with superfluous data. I see those sort of questions a lot on verbally based IQ tests

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

10 is also a no-brainer

although my brain was wondering 'what if they got the concrete and stone from another planet? Then, wouldn't the added weight cause issues, potentially shifting the earth's axis? Although even such a massive redistribution of weight without adding any to the overall planetary weight might also do that as probably happened when the icecaps and glaciers receded after the last ice age.'

I tend to overthink these things.

 

[Coriolis]

I tend to overthink these things.

Yes - especially when the answers are very obvious. I start thinking that it can't be that simple, I must be missing something, but I'm not.

 

[Cloudpatrol]

The math in these is trivial. Many are as much based in language as those on the other test. The only one I did not get is 11, the series, because of the nature of the series as described in the spoiler.

Yes, I think this is because the tests were designed by Psychologist's and are heavily slanted toward's people's basic comprehension/insight.


BTW, you found an error in the other one. Do you want a mailed prize - prize in the form of acknowledgement - or something else of your choosing (within reason )

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Yes - especially when the answers are very obvious. I start thinking that it can't be that simple, I must be missing something, but I'm not.

Yeah that tendency always fucked me up on school tests. Even multiple choice

 

[Cloudpatrol]

Yeah that tendency always fucked me up on school tests. Even multiple choice

Yes - especially when the answers are very obvious. I start thinking that it can't be that simple, I must be missing something, but I'm not.

Yes! I couldn't "get" algebra until I realized I was over-complicating it

 

[Coriolis]

Yes, I think this is because the tests were designed by Psychologist's and are heavily slanted toward's people's basic comprehension/insight.


BTW, you found an error in the other one. Do you want a mailed prize - prize in the form of acknowledgement - or something else of your choosing (within reason )

How about a song in the "dedicate a song to another member" thread?

 

[Cloudpatrol]

How about a song in the "dedicate a song to another member" thread?

Ok Challenge accepted!

 

[geedoenfj]

6 out of 12, I'm not brilliant with math, though I am not really convinced with the horse answer, because I counted the net worth in the end of the day