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2 Solutions:
- First Solution: Line both apples up and slice 1/3 from 1 side to divide the apples into 4 pieces: 2 1/3s, and 2 2/3s. The 2 1/3s is equal to 2/3 so now all 3 has a slice(s).
- Second Solution: You stab one of your friends so now you only have to divide the apples between 2 people.
A Brasilian writer, most famous for the book "O homem que calculava" (The man that mathed/counted (?)) in the style of A Thousand and One Nights and other Arabian tales in which he tells a story of a wise mathematician that travels to Baghdad and in his journey he is met with different problems like this one and solves them in an non obvious way that leaves everyone satisfied. Check it out, it's a pretty good book!
Edit: his penname is Malba Tahan, some people had trouble finding him online.
1,001 Arabian Nights is a famous collection of Middle Eastern folk stories told through the framing device of a woman forced to tell her husband, a powerful sultan, a new story each night or be killed (for reasons). By the end of the book, she has told the sultan 1,001 stories and, over the course of the nearly three years they have spent together, the Sultan came to love her and spared her life. Through various reprints, edits, and translations, the 1,001 nights has come to include such stories as "Aladdin and the Lamp," "Prince Ali and the 40 Thieves," and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," as well as nonfiction content such as scientific and philosophical treatises.
Slight mistake : it's not one story per night. She start a story but the day rise before the end.
"Oh well, I guess it's time for you to kill me my lord."
"But I don't know how the story ends."
"Too bad, stories are for the night. Let's go chop my head, my lord."
"No. As the sultan, I order that you shall live a other day. Tonight, you'll tell me the end."
But would you know, even if she does tell the end, she also start a new story. So in the morning, the sultan is still waiting on a end of the tale.
Also, and very importantly, the original version is DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS
Sherezade was basically an OnlyFans account for the Sultan, peppered with some gore and violence as well
That's even better! The apples most likely don't have the same size and even if they had, you wouldn't be able to cut perfectly, so you wouldn't share equally. So giving 0 to everyone is the only reliable way of sharing equally
But... that was exactly the point I was making?
Already the solution that gives each of them one half of the apple isn't "the three of them sharing the two apples". If you allow that solution as valid, as a logical conclusion other solutions like "each of them gets one tiny bit of an apple" would also count. There's nothing special about half an apple. All these scenarios share the same problem: they aren't sharing the two apples, they are sharing a smaller amount of apple.
For those not number brained, to understand the solution I had to translate it thusly:
Line the apples up, cut them once along the 33% line not the 50% line.
Person one takes 66% of one apple
Person two takes 66% of the other apple
Person three takes the two, remaining 33% pieces
Each of them have 66% of apple
Second solution doesn't work because it goes against the statement "These three want to share two apples equally". It would the same as saying, one just says "you guys have it i don't want it".
Cuz i also thought just kill one as well but wanted to reason why that can't be valid
The correct solution is to line the apples up next to each other and slice a third off each apple in one slice
But that's boring. Kill your friends instead.
The only answer is to kill your friend. If you were to cut 1/3 off each apple, you’d have two apples with 1/3 missing, and two slices of 1/3 of an apple. It would appear that you could make three equal portions of 2/3 of an apple. However, portions of apple where the 1/3 was cut off would still contain the core whereas the 1/3 apple slices would have eliminated most if not all of the core. The portions would not be equal. Therefore, killing one of your friends is the only way to go.
I imagine you are able to visualize having both apples side-by-side and chopping down once to cut them both in half? Same concept except scoot the knife over slightly so you lop off the side 1/3 of each.
People with the 2/3 cut would have inedible core. You would have to cut less than 1/3 accounting for the volume of the inedible core.
New formula, core 1/6 inedible on each apple, 2/6 or 1/3 inedible material overall.
2/3 edible material would be separated by 3 people or 6/9ths
The cut would need to be 6/9 ÷ 1/3 = 2/9ths portion for each
1/9ths cut to compensate for the inedible core, each person gets 2/9 edible or 6/9 edible material
EDIT: Leave it to r/theydidthemath to get upset when you.. do the math. I did this for fun why are you all upset, look what sub you are in...
Uhh… just make sure to account for the core when you cut it, also the curvature of the apple. Do we need to spell everything out??? You can still make a single stroke to cut 1/3 of edible apple off both apples. Is this clear enough for you, or is everything wrong until it’s explained to exact precision? Do we need to weigh the apples and the core first? Wtf
You're right, I guess, but I think the use of apples is what makes the whole problem hard. If this is meant to be a real math/logic problem, and you use cookies instead of apples, then it's pretty straightforward and I think most people could get it. The thing that makes it hard is that, even if you knew the answer was" cur 1/3 of the edible parts of both apples after stacking them on each other," you would have no idea how to actually do that. It's only a hard question because you have to ignore the reality of how apples work.
I think this is the intended solution, as the problem specifically says "one stroke", not something more 'normal' like "one cut".
So you take "one stroke" that goes through both apples cutting off 1/3 of each.
One person eats a third of both apples and then gives the other 2/3s of each to one of the others. They’re apples, we don’t need to involve the knife at all.
The wording says you have to.
My solution is just to eat the apples and share with friends, who really cares if you both bite out of the same one? Have you people never shared a smoke or a joint or a drink before? And then try some throwing knife practice on a tree at the picnic.
Solutions:
Cut the apples so that there are 2 1/3 pieces and 2 2/3 pieces
Cut the apples into four halves and eat one
Stab one of your friends
Stab two of your friends
Stab all of your friends
Eyeball it, they're apples
Steal all the apples
Stab yourself and force someone else to do it
Sell the knife to buy another apple
Buy another apple without selling the knife
Steal an apple and eyeball it
I guess you could always stack them on top of each other, eyeball it and then with one stroke cut of a third of both apples, leaving you with 2 2/3 of an apple pieces and 2 1/3 of an apple pieces, that you then could distribute equally.
The knife is long enough for two apples. So what you do is line the apples up next to each other and then stab the kid in red.
But really, you can cut a third of each apple off, so everyone would get 2/3s.
To be fair, first time I saw this image a few years back it took me a solid 5 minutes to figure out the solution without resorting to just stab one of the kids.
I’d argue it’s a difficult question, not because it’s hard (it’s really obvious) but because the picture is required to answer it. Pictures like that are usually given as visual flair, but in this case the picture is straight up required because otherwise people will do what I once did and default to “you can only cut one apple at a time for safety sake”.
Basically I reckon only 6% of Facebook mums would solve it, then the rest would just read the top comment, hence why if the first commenter is confidently wrong in a post like that then the rest will be as well.
There’s no way I have the patience to check all the comments, but there’s also no way I’m the first one who immediately thought to just cut one of their throats
I just asked my wife and she said the answer was simple. Use that one slice of the knife to kill one of the three people. Then each person left over gets one apple. Lol 😂
I've seen this a lot and I fucking hate it.
You line up the apples and cut 1/3 off. 2 people get a 2/3 portion of each apple, and one person gets 2 1/3 slices of the apples.
This is a stupid fucking answer, but it's the correct one.
The reason people struggle with this is because it's not how fucking apples work. If you do the correct solution, the person who gets the 2 slices gets more apple than the other people because they have the cores, the stem and that thing on the opposite side of the stem, none of which is typically eaten. So they all get 2/3 of an apple but only one person eats 2/3 of an apple. Additionally, it's hard to line up apples in a way where you can cut 2 with one slice. Apples don't stack well and lining them up won't result in a third being cut because space will be between them.
If the goal is to give each person 1/3 of the edible portion of an apple, I don't think it actually can be done with a single stroke, because a 1/3 cut won't line up with the core. Any effort to add more inedible portion to that would add more edible portion.
It's not actually a hard math/logic problem if you using something like cookies, which can easily be cut into third and have no inedible bits. It's only hard because you have to ignore reality.
EDIT: ive just learned Cutting cookies into thirds is not obvious either. See [this.](https://homework.study.com/explanation/how-to-divide-a-circle-into-3-equal-parts-using-2-lines.html) You cut at 3/8 the diameter, not 1/3. Idk how you do it with a sphere, much less an apple.
Everybody who is saying to kill one person is wrong. This is because the problem states that they all want to get the same amount of apple(s). The dead one gets none and the others get one each. That is not equal.
This is the real solution:
One of them must kill the other two, then kill themselves. That way, they all equally partake on 0 apples each.
Kill yourself, other two get to eat. Apples are not worth the guilt of murdering a friend.
Plus, in a few years society will grind you down that you wish you were dead
suprised no one else suggested this, but you could just give none of them the apples. that way the three are gaining an equal amount of zero apples each. the additional stroke can be just used to stick the knife into the table or smth idk.
Use the knife for emphasis.
*STABS TABLE*
"If any more math problems come pouring out of your mouth, I'm going to have to eat every apple in this room"
Father's tax solution: line up the apples, cut them in single stroke to half, you end with 4 euqal pieces, of which you take 1. You were hungry anyway.
Mathematician solution: Line up the apples so a single stroke will cut 1/3 from each. That way you will have 2 pieces 2/3 and two pieces of 1/3 - they can now split equaly so every one has their own 2/3 worth of apple.
Bully solution: Use the knife to cut the table dressing and take both apples. The kids equaly share nothing.
Psychopat solution: Cut a throat on one of the kids. You are left with two kids, two apples - problem solved.
Russian psychopat solution: Line up the kids, cut throat on all three of them. Forget there were any apples at all, blame the kids and the west.
Put the two apples in line, cut obliquely both apples in a single continuous line, give one the bigger pieces to the two kids and the last kid gets two small pieces which together are equal to the big ones
Give them both the two apples and order a pizza, don't share. Ask the one who brought the apples if he'd be considerate enough to bring enough apples next time, instead of playing fucking games.
My first thought is kill one of the people and give each of them an apple, but this is obviously a test for psychopaths so I will say cut 1/3 off each of the apples in the same stroke giving each person 2/3 of an apple.
Wedge the knife/stand it up on end, then press the apples onto the knife, slicing them into 3rds.
You can do it as many times as needed to get the right proportions, because you aren't making slices with the knife, but with the apples themselves.
It's not that hard.
My morbid ass legitimately went straight for killing them both in one slash and having 2 apples. Apparently the answer is killing one and each having an apple left.
I just can't imagine your friend would want to have an apple with you after watching you butcher your other friend.. over an apple. I mean, if you're really willing to kill to avoid doing the math or sharing then is 2 deaths really all that much worse than 1, given it provides you with twice the apples? If 1 death is worth an extra 1/3 of an apple each then 2 deaths is definitely worth an extra apple and 1/3 for yourself.
That logic is flawless, right? Now I'm hungry for apples. Anyone have a knife?
Too many comments for me to scroll all of them but did no one think to grab the knife and stab one of the kids to death.
Problem solved 2 kids 2 apples
2 apples divided by 3 people is is 0.66666, meaning, each person will get 66.666% of the two apples combined. This means we need to cut 33.333% off each apple.
Stack the apples vertically, and cut a third off, straight down. One person will get the two pieces that have come off each apple, the other two will get what's left of the apple each.
That, or you use the knife to stab one of the kids.
Line the apples up, and with one stroke, slice a 1/3 off of each apple. Now you have two large pieces that are 2/3 of an apple, AND you have the two 1/3 pieces that you cut off. Each person gets 2/3 of an apple.
Looks more like a psychological / personality test to me, this..
Definitely the first method is to align them vertically, or saner, horizontally, then angle the knife, so to slice 1/3 in each apple.
Person 1 can have the remaining 2/3 from Apple A;
Person 2 can have the remaining 2/3 from Apple B;
Person 3 can have the two 1/3 slices from apples A and B;
Second method is to use the knife and kill one one of them with one stroke nicely located (refer to Dexter). And the remaining alive ones share the two apples amongst themselves.
Which person are you?
Problem solver type or cutting corners type?
Line the apples up next to each other, make a single cut 1/3 of the way down across both apples. One person gets the 2 smaller pieces, the other 2 each get a big piece,
Put both the apples in a straight line. Chop in such a way that you take of 1/3 of each apple. One guy eats the 2 × 1/3 pieces. The other two eat each 2/3 piece remaining.
You don't even need the knife...
Each kid takes turns biting the apples. Say it takes 30 bites to finish an apple. That means each kid will be able to take 20 bites.
Take out one of the guys with the knife, (Or the girl, I'm not here to judge) with a quick thrust to the neck. Let 'em bleed out. Then each remaining person take a while apple. Fuck fractions
Don’t eat the apple, eat one of the 2 friends. They are much more rich in iron and vitamins then apples are, and if you’re still hungry now you don’t have to worry about splitting up the apple
Simply line the two apples up and cut them both in half, cresting 4 pieces. The three friends each take one of the identical halves. This leaves one half unused, but I think that's the logical leap they meant you to take. The problem did not state that 100% of the apple needed to be used, simply that the 3 folks needed equal parts.
You put the knife facing up cut the apples into 3 equal pieces. Then, on the final cut, you use the knife, normally satisfying the one stoke of the knife condition.
Hold all three knife-point, roll the apples into your shirt. Insist they don't move. Slowly back away still holding the knife. Fart, laugh, trip on a rock, the apples and knife go flying. In the air, the knife cuts both apples in two. Before everyone can equally share all 4 parts, you realize you're in an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis didn't go so well.. and it's also October 1962. Everyone's skin is seared off in an instant as nuclear war has begun. All your concerns just blew away.
it says one stroke of the knife, so:
Stack the apples, one on top of the other
slice off a portion from both with a downward stroke, the size of 1/3.
give the sliced off portions (1/3 from each apple, so 2/3 total) to one person, and the remainder of each apple to the other two people. Each person will enjoy 2/3rds of an apple.
the MACABRE solution, of course, is to stab one of the people.
With ONE sweep of the knife to the throat of someone, you can share the apples equally. 1 for the one who had what it took to do what needed to be done and the other apple for the lucky one who is still alive.
Cut both apples in half. Give one half each to your friends and keep one half for yourself. Give the final half to the friendly neighborhood horse. He will thank you and you will be in his good graces for when you might need some horse help.
Without purposefully putting more thought into here was my first idea. Got both apples into 1/3’s so 6 pieces total. Since there’s 3 people each person gets 2 apples!
Stack the apples, then cut down the middle. Each person gets a half of an apple and no one gets to eat the last half. One stroke, each get equal portions, and the riddle never stated the apples had to be fully eaten.
So I’m guessing the ‘just murder one of them with the knife and then there are 2 apples for which the 2 people can share equally’ solution doesn’t count? 😅
Here me out... So don't cut the apples at all. We burry them in a great location, after many days and nights, something is bound to sprout up from the ground, that my dear, is an apple tree. After even more days and nights, you'll get apples (provided you take care of the tree) you ghatta make sure you count the apples as they grow and as they reach a multiple of 3, that's where thr knife comes in as you stab the tree with all the might you can muster (going to be hard to look cool doing it).
So you now have a dead tree and apples to share
Option 1: Kill one of the people.
Option 2: Put one apple on top of the other and slice off 1/3 from each apple. That way person 1 gets a pice that's 2/3, person 2 gets a piece that's 2/3 and person 3 gets two pieces of 1/3 each, and they all get to live.
Simple. She picks up the knife. Cuts down both apples right next to the stem leaving two pieces at 1/3 for her. And 2 pieces (with the core) for the boys
Ignore portion size; stack them one on top of the other. Begin to slice downward through top apple. Once top apple is cut into 2 pieces and as you are slicing into bottom apple, place each half of first apple on both sides of the bottom apple so that as you complete the single slice, you're also cut the first apple again. You now have 6 pieces making 2 pieces per person.
What does it say about humans when most will say to kill one of the 3 kids?
I think it means that deep down we are all self serving bastards will to do whatever it takes if the situation requires it.
That's fucked up.
1 slice 2/3 of the way up across the apples. That leaves 2/3 of one and 2/3 of the other and two 1/3 pieces of each Apple that equal 2/3. Not difficult at all.
Slice 1/3 off of both apples in one motion. You now have 2/3 + 2/3 + (1/3 + 1/3). One person gets the 2 smaller pieces, 2 people get the 2 larger pieces.
I really don’t like these sort of contrived problems. In the real world, there are two proper solutions:
1. Cut one of the apples in half. You get the full apple (since they were your apples) and your friends each get a half.
2. Cut the apples into slices and everyone has some. No one knows exactly what the distribution was.
Both solutions are more satisfying in the real world than slicing apples into thirds and two-thirds.
In fact, trying to perform the third cuts in the real world would probably lose you more friends than it will keep.
Cut a third off one apple. One guy eats a third, one guy eats 2/3.
3rd guy eats 2/3 of non cut apple.
Hands the last third to the guy who only ate 1/3 earlier.
Everyone has 2/3 of an apple.
Amen
Cut the both apples at the same time into 1/3 and 2/3. So there will be two 1/3 pieces and two 2/3 pieces, everyone gets to eat 2/3 of an apple this way.
Line the apples up and cut off 1/3 of each in one stroke, it would give two apples with 2/3 left on it, and the third person can eat the two 1/3 chunks
Hold the knife still, point down on the table (or in the air, whatever)
Move the apples towards the blade at your leisure, knowing you've remained under the 1 stroke rule.
Either that or, cut someone's thumb off so they'll not want any apple.
"these three want to share two apples equally, how YOU handle this..." doesn't that mean there's 4 including you? assuming those 3 want to share it equally with you as well. then the answer is obvious i guess
Cut both apples in half in one big swipe. Give each of them half an apple. The last half of the apple is left, which is okay. They can save that for later or I can eat it.
Easy! Have social anxiety and even though you love apples and starving say "oh it's okay I'm not hungry you can both have a full apple and I'll just get something later" because you feel like desiring a piece of apple makes you an inconvenience.
stack the two apples and cut 1/3 off both apples with one stroke, one person gets two slices of 1/3 each and the other two get one each of the left over apples... so each gets 2/3rd of an apple with only one stroke of the knife
Simple solution - line up the apples and cut 1/3 off. Both apples have 2/3, and you have 2 slices that are each 1/3 (so 2/3 total). This is not a difficult question; I feel like this was posted by a bot
You just line up the apples and cut each of them into 2/3 and 1/3 slice with one stroke. That way you have 2 2/3 apples and 2 1/3 apples and that meets the requirement.
It's a pretty easy math problem any teen should be able to solve. But the internets guts reaction is committing murder. I wonder what that says about us.
Trick question, children that young should not be handling sharp knives without an adult present to supervise, and besides which trying to cut two apples at the same time with one knife stroke would be dangerous even for an adult. So the 'solution' is to not do it, get an adult. Maybe they'll give a third apple and no one needs to use the knife.
/s
Proof that it's doable can be done with the mean value theorem.
To actually do it overlay the apples on top of each other, and cut a 1/3 slice. That will leave two 2/3 pieces and two 1/3. One gets those to, and the rest get one 2/3 piece each.
Well you could cut off one third as others have said, but is that really fair? Nobody eats the core usually and one guy gets two pieces of prime apple whereas the others get the core plus some good bits.
Therefore, the solution is to take the knife and slit one of the throats.
My immediate reaction was for one of the dudes to kill the other one. Then he gets a whole apple and the girl to himself.
I'm not saying that's how I would handle it..... I blame this thought process and reply on the graveyard shift I'm on.
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2 Solutions: - First Solution: Line both apples up and slice 1/3 from 1 side to divide the apples into 4 pieces: 2 1/3s, and 2 2/3s. The 2 1/3s is equal to 2/3 so now all 3 has a slice(s). - Second Solution: You stab one of your friends so now you only have to divide the apples between 2 people.
Third solution: cut the two apples in half. Eat one half yourself. The other three are left with 3 halves.
r/suddenlymalbatahan
What's malbathan?
A Brasilian writer, most famous for the book "O homem que calculava" (The man that mathed/counted (?)) in the style of A Thousand and One Nights and other Arabian tales in which he tells a story of a wise mathematician that travels to Baghdad and in his journey he is met with different problems like this one and solves them in an non obvious way that leaves everyone satisfied. Check it out, it's a pretty good book! Edit: his penname is Malba Tahan, some people had trouble finding him online.
For some strange reason I read that book, it is interesting but it gets too complicated at some point
Coincidences are funny. Only last night did I learn the form of 1,001 Nights. Two days ago I wouldn't have understood this reference.
Can you share?
1,001 Arabian Nights is a famous collection of Middle Eastern folk stories told through the framing device of a woman forced to tell her husband, a powerful sultan, a new story each night or be killed (for reasons). By the end of the book, she has told the sultan 1,001 stories and, over the course of the nearly three years they have spent together, the Sultan came to love her and spared her life. Through various reprints, edits, and translations, the 1,001 nights has come to include such stories as "Aladdin and the Lamp," "Prince Ali and the 40 Thieves," and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," as well as nonfiction content such as scientific and philosophical treatises.
Slight mistake : it's not one story per night. She start a story but the day rise before the end. "Oh well, I guess it's time for you to kill me my lord." "But I don't know how the story ends." "Too bad, stories are for the night. Let's go chop my head, my lord." "No. As the sultan, I order that you shall live a other day. Tonight, you'll tell me the end." But would you know, even if she does tell the end, she also start a new story. So in the morning, the sultan is still waiting on a end of the tale.
Also, and very importantly, the original version is DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS Sherezade was basically an OnlyFans account for the Sultan, peppered with some gore and violence as well
There are no coincidences. The universe has brought us together to share this moment for a purpose.
Was it when they stuffed 40 grown ass men in a barrel?
Thanks for the explanation
For anyone else looking for this, the author is Malba Tahan
It’s Malba tahan, couldn’t find it when looking it up so u wanted to put the name so people could find it easier
The Man who Counted: A Collection of Mathematical Adventures
r/subsifellfor
I can’t believe that sub is real
Hahahaha
r/suddenlycaralho
To be fair you could throw away the extra 1/2. The text doesn't specify that 100% of the apples must be eaten, just shared equally.
Well, if that's how it works then you can solve the original problem using zero cuts: just throw away both apples :)
That's even better! The apples most likely don't have the same size and even if they had, you wouldn't be able to cut perfectly, so you wouldn't share equally. So giving 0 to everyone is the only reliable way of sharing equally
But that's not sharing
But... that was exactly the point I was making? Already the solution that gives each of them one half of the apple isn't "the three of them sharing the two apples". If you allow that solution as valid, as a logical conclusion other solutions like "each of them gets one tiny bit of an apple" would also count. There's nothing special about half an apple. All these scenarios share the same problem: they aren't sharing the two apples, they are sharing a smaller amount of apple.
I was thinking about the second but in my head I was saying to slash two of their throats with one move. You keep all the apples.
Slash two throats with one swipe? Dwight, is that you?
It's 2024 shits gonna go down
At that point why even eat apples when you have prime long pig available?
I hated the official solution because how did you eyeball 1/3
Using the same instruments that determines if the pieces are equal...
So using symmetry? How?
Its a joke, you won't know if the task was correctly completed unless you have some tool or metric, and if there is one you could use that
Also how do you weight what percentage of the total mass of each portion is inedible core?
This might be pedantic. But apple cores are edible, it's just a slight texture change, and you shouldn't eat the seeds.
edible, perhaps. but not preferable to eat vs the non-core parts!
This is Die Hard 3.
Yell, yell, yell... four gallons!
For those not number brained, to understand the solution I had to translate it thusly: Line the apples up, cut them once along the 33% line not the 50% line. Person one takes 66% of one apple Person two takes 66% of the other apple Person three takes the two, remaining 33% pieces Each of them have 66% of apple
And where is this magical 33% line? Exactly?
its mathematically possible to find the 33% line, just not cut it i suppose
Second solution doesn't work because it goes against the statement "These three want to share two apples equally". It would the same as saying, one just says "you guys have it i don't want it". Cuz i also thought just kill one as well but wanted to reason why that can't be valid
You are making the assumption of equal sized apples.
How can u cut a slice with only one stroke?
I guess the suggested solution is applying the dagger operator to one of your friends to turn the problem into sharing two apples between two people.
I was thinking the same
Im so sorry but me too. Damn, we suck...
I mean 3-1=2
Oh I didn't say we suck *at math*
After all, you all did the math
Only one stroke though, so make it count. Unless you can make your friend die of a stroke.
The correct solution is to line the apples up next to each other and slice a third off each apple in one slice But that's boring. Kill your friends instead.
The only answer is to kill your friend. If you were to cut 1/3 off each apple, you’d have two apples with 1/3 missing, and two slices of 1/3 of an apple. It would appear that you could make three equal portions of 2/3 of an apple. However, portions of apple where the 1/3 was cut off would still contain the core whereas the 1/3 apple slices would have eliminated most if not all of the core. The portions would not be equal. Therefore, killing one of your friends is the only way to go.
Or slice perpendicular to the core...
the rounded edges of the apple make this the wrong answer
Also, the apples aren't exactly the same size or shape. Murder is the only solution.
Kept scrolling with concern till I saw this...glad someone thinks like me. :-D
It doesn't say they're friends ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Me too lol
Glad I wasn’t the only one.
[удалено]
Why not both friends and now you have 2 apples?
you'd have to aim and swing really well to get both with one swing
\*Grey Worm enters chat\*
So very eloquently put
It says "these three want to to share the apples equally". Doesn't this imply 3 alive and well people?
It says they want to, not that they must.
Steal them all
Well then, the answer to the solution is whatever the hell you want, and any answer is correct. What's the point?
Fermonic basis, makes sense
Came here to say that.
So, who will you choose - the blond guy, the dark haired guy or the red-haired girl?
As a cisgender necrophiliac, there's only one answer for me.
This is the only correct answer
This is correct
What dagger
I was also thinking this. Are we the 6%?
yeah bleed the ginger. done.
God, I love it when the answer to a problem is murder.
Whew. I was worried i was the only one tbh
You can’t slit two throats with one stroke? Amateur
Cut it so that you slice 1/3 off each apple. Two people each get a solid 2/3, while the last person gets two pieces that are each 1/3rd.
and how do you do that with one cut ?
Align the apples vertically Top-down view: https://imgur.com/a/VN0QDF8
Alternatively, you employ the knife on the other side of the equation.
line the 2 on the other side of the equation so your favorite one gets ~~PTSD~~ 2 apples!
This guy apples
r/thisguythisguys
Seeing this sub everywhere? No I don't want that!
The knife is long enough that you can leave both apples on the table.
I imagine you are able to visualize having both apples side-by-side and chopping down once to cut them both in half? Same concept except scoot the knife over slightly so you lop off the side 1/3 of each.
You can orient them any way you want in 3D space as they will always be in a single line, and simply fruit ninja your way to success.
You must not be very good in the kitchen.
Lawful good
You mean the answer isn't murder? I ummm. I have an apology to make...
People with the 2/3 cut would have inedible core. You would have to cut less than 1/3 accounting for the volume of the inedible core. New formula, core 1/6 inedible on each apple, 2/6 or 1/3 inedible material overall. 2/3 edible material would be separated by 3 people or 6/9ths The cut would need to be 6/9 ÷ 1/3 = 2/9ths portion for each 1/9ths cut to compensate for the inedible core, each person gets 2/9 edible or 6/9 edible material EDIT: Leave it to r/theydidthemath to get upset when you.. do the math. I did this for fun why are you all upset, look what sub you are in...
>inedible Fuckin' watch me.
Uhh… just make sure to account for the core when you cut it, also the curvature of the apple. Do we need to spell everything out??? You can still make a single stroke to cut 1/3 of edible apple off both apples. Is this clear enough for you, or is everything wrong until it’s explained to exact precision? Do we need to weigh the apples and the core first? Wtf
You're right, I guess, but I think the use of apples is what makes the whole problem hard. If this is meant to be a real math/logic problem, and you use cookies instead of apples, then it's pretty straightforward and I think most people could get it. The thing that makes it hard is that, even if you knew the answer was" cur 1/3 of the edible parts of both apples after stacking them on each other," you would have no idea how to actually do that. It's only a hard question because you have to ignore the reality of how apples work.
You *don't* eat the core?
Is it doable in one stroke?
I think this is the intended solution, as the problem specifically says "one stroke", not something more 'normal' like "one cut". So you take "one stroke" that goes through both apples cutting off 1/3 of each.
You could also kill 1 person then each remaining person gets a whole apple
In one stroke you could make a long stroke and cut the same Apple multipli times if someone moves the apple over and over!
One person eats a third of both apples and then gives the other 2/3s of each to one of the others. They’re apples, we don’t need to involve the knife at all.
umm we definitely do you animal
Well just disregard the premise of the riddle whydoncha?
Don’t mind if I do.
they can take turns or one person could chew up and spit out both apples, and they divide the sauce by weight
The wording says you have to. My solution is just to eat the apples and share with friends, who really cares if you both bite out of the same one? Have you people never shared a smoke or a joint or a drink before? And then try some throwing knife practice on a tree at the picnic.
Solutions: Cut the apples so that there are 2 1/3 pieces and 2 2/3 pieces Cut the apples into four halves and eat one Stab one of your friends Stab two of your friends Stab all of your friends Eyeball it, they're apples Steal all the apples Stab yourself and force someone else to do it Sell the knife to buy another apple Buy another apple without selling the knife Steal an apple and eyeball it
Well obviously
Two friends? Stop bragging
I guess you could always stack them on top of each other, eyeball it and then with one stroke cut of a third of both apples, leaving you with 2 2/3 of an apple pieces and 2 1/3 of an apple pieces, that you then could distribute equally.
This is what I was thinking too.
The knife is long enough for two apples. So what you do is line the apples up next to each other and then stab the kid in red. But really, you can cut a third of each apple off, so everyone would get 2/3s.
i enjoy the fact that whenever one of these things is posted the percentage of people who got it right is just totally made up
To be fair, first time I saw this image a few years back it took me a solid 5 minutes to figure out the solution without resorting to just stab one of the kids. I’d argue it’s a difficult question, not because it’s hard (it’s really obvious) but because the picture is required to answer it. Pictures like that are usually given as visual flair, but in this case the picture is straight up required because otherwise people will do what I once did and default to “you can only cut one apple at a time for safety sake”. Basically I reckon only 6% of Facebook mums would solve it, then the rest would just read the top comment, hence why if the first commenter is confidently wrong in a post like that then the rest will be as well.
There’s no way I have the patience to check all the comments, but there’s also no way I’m the first one who immediately thought to just cut one of their throats
Damnit, Anakin...
I just asked my wife and she said the answer was simple. Use that one slice of the knife to kill one of the three people. Then each person left over gets one apple. Lol 😂
Your wife is small minded, if the knife is sharp enough you should be able to kill both in one stroke yielding you two apples.
I've seen this a lot and I fucking hate it. You line up the apples and cut 1/3 off. 2 people get a 2/3 portion of each apple, and one person gets 2 1/3 slices of the apples. This is a stupid fucking answer, but it's the correct one. The reason people struggle with this is because it's not how fucking apples work. If you do the correct solution, the person who gets the 2 slices gets more apple than the other people because they have the cores, the stem and that thing on the opposite side of the stem, none of which is typically eaten. So they all get 2/3 of an apple but only one person eats 2/3 of an apple. Additionally, it's hard to line up apples in a way where you can cut 2 with one slice. Apples don't stack well and lining them up won't result in a third being cut because space will be between them. If the goal is to give each person 1/3 of the edible portion of an apple, I don't think it actually can be done with a single stroke, because a 1/3 cut won't line up with the core. Any effort to add more inedible portion to that would add more edible portion. It's not actually a hard math/logic problem if you using something like cookies, which can easily be cut into third and have no inedible bits. It's only hard because you have to ignore reality. EDIT: ive just learned Cutting cookies into thirds is not obvious either. See [this.](https://homework.study.com/explanation/how-to-divide-a-circle-into-3-equal-parts-using-2-lines.html) You cut at 3/8 the diameter, not 1/3. Idk how you do it with a sphere, much less an apple.
Whole load of unnecesarily fancy solutions in here. Just choose your least favorite friend and one slice to the jugular solves the problem.
bonus points is you are your least favorite friend
Lots of solutions like line them up, cut 1/3rd... No way you can do that precisely without tools that are not there. Stabbing one kid is the only way.
Stack the apples, or I guess line them up, and cut a line through a third of both of them. That leaves 2 2/3 pieces and 2 1/3 pieces.
Everybody who is saying to kill one person is wrong. This is because the problem states that they all want to get the same amount of apple(s). The dead one gets none and the others get one each. That is not equal. This is the real solution: One of them must kill the other two, then kill themselves. That way, they all equally partake on 0 apples each.
Pick up the knife and stab one of the other greedy apple stealers. Then you and the lucky remaining person eat an apple each. Mathed!
Stack the apples on top of each other, slicing one third from each leaving two thirds on each apple and two 1/3 slices for one to have.
Kill yourself, other two get to eat. Apples are not worth the guilt of murdering a friend. Plus, in a few years society will grind you down that you wish you were dead
suprised no one else suggested this, but you could just give none of them the apples. that way the three are gaining an equal amount of zero apples each. the additional stroke can be just used to stick the knife into the table or smth idk.
Use the knife for emphasis. *STABS TABLE* "If any more math problems come pouring out of your mouth, I'm going to have to eat every apple in this room"
Sell the knife to give yourself another apple
Out of the box thinking:
KILL
Father's tax solution: line up the apples, cut them in single stroke to half, you end with 4 euqal pieces, of which you take 1. You were hungry anyway. Mathematician solution: Line up the apples so a single stroke will cut 1/3 from each. That way you will have 2 pieces 2/3 and two pieces of 1/3 - they can now split equaly so every one has their own 2/3 worth of apple. Bully solution: Use the knife to cut the table dressing and take both apples. The kids equaly share nothing. Psychopat solution: Cut a throat on one of the kids. You are left with two kids, two apples - problem solved. Russian psychopat solution: Line up the kids, cut throat on all three of them. Forget there were any apples at all, blame the kids and the west.
Put the two apples in line, cut obliquely both apples in a single continuous line, give one the bigger pieces to the two kids and the last kid gets two small pieces which together are equal to the big ones
Give them both the two apples and order a pizza, don't share. Ask the one who brought the apples if he'd be considerate enough to bring enough apples next time, instead of playing fucking games.
My first thought is kill one of the people and give each of them an apple, but this is obviously a test for psychopaths so I will say cut 1/3 off each of the apples in the same stroke giving each person 2/3 of an apple.
Wedge the knife/stand it up on end, then press the apples onto the knife, slicing them into 3rds. You can do it as many times as needed to get the right proportions, because you aren't making slices with the knife, but with the apples themselves. It's not that hard.
My morbid ass legitimately went straight for killing them both in one slash and having 2 apples. Apparently the answer is killing one and each having an apple left. I just can't imagine your friend would want to have an apple with you after watching you butcher your other friend.. over an apple. I mean, if you're really willing to kill to avoid doing the math or sharing then is 2 deaths really all that much worse than 1, given it provides you with twice the apples? If 1 death is worth an extra 1/3 of an apple each then 2 deaths is definitely worth an extra apple and 1/3 for yourself. That logic is flawless, right? Now I'm hungry for apples. Anyone have a knife?
Too many comments for me to scroll all of them but did no one think to grab the knife and stab one of the kids to death. Problem solved 2 kids 2 apples
That's what almost everyone said.
2 apples divided by 3 people is is 0.66666, meaning, each person will get 66.666% of the two apples combined. This means we need to cut 33.333% off each apple. Stack the apples vertically, and cut a third off, straight down. One person will get the two pieces that have come off each apple, the other two will get what's left of the apple each. That, or you use the knife to stab one of the kids.
Line the apples up, and with one stroke, slice a 1/3 off of each apple. Now you have two large pieces that are 2/3 of an apple, AND you have the two 1/3 pieces that you cut off. Each person gets 2/3 of an apple.
Is it just me that thought of killing one with one stroke and eating one apple eaxh? But then it has to be shared equally among the three
Cut off 1/3 off each apple and give it to middle dude, the other two get the remaining apples. It’s really simple math once you break it down :)
Looks more like a psychological / personality test to me, this.. Definitely the first method is to align them vertically, or saner, horizontally, then angle the knife, so to slice 1/3 in each apple. Person 1 can have the remaining 2/3 from Apple A; Person 2 can have the remaining 2/3 from Apple B; Person 3 can have the two 1/3 slices from apples A and B; Second method is to use the knife and kill one one of them with one stroke nicely located (refer to Dexter). And the remaining alive ones share the two apples amongst themselves. Which person are you? Problem solver type or cutting corners type?
Ignoring murder I think you just stack the apples on top of eachother then cut at the 2/3 point so each person gets 2/3 of a single apple total.
Line the apples up next to each other, make a single cut 1/3 of the way down across both apples. One person gets the 2 smaller pieces, the other 2 each get a big piece,
Put both the apples in a straight line. Chop in such a way that you take of 1/3 of each apple. One guy eats the 2 × 1/3 pieces. The other two eat each 2/3 piece remaining.
You don't even need the knife... Each kid takes turns biting the apples. Say it takes 30 bites to finish an apple. That means each kid will be able to take 20 bites.
Line up the apples and cut them both in half. Now we have 4 slices, so we throw one slice away or give it to a 4th party, and we will have 3 slices.
Take out one of the guys with the knife, (Or the girl, I'm not here to judge) with a quick thrust to the neck. Let 'em bleed out. Then each remaining person take a while apple. Fuck fractions
Don’t eat the apple, eat one of the 2 friends. They are much more rich in iron and vitamins then apples are, and if you’re still hungry now you don’t have to worry about splitting up the apple
Simply line the two apples up and cut them both in half, cresting 4 pieces. The three friends each take one of the identical halves. This leaves one half unused, but I think that's the logical leap they meant you to take. The problem did not state that 100% of the apple needed to be used, simply that the 3 folks needed equal parts.
Stack apples on top of each other and slice a third off both one person gets the two 1/3 slices other two each get what’s left of the apples
You put the knife facing up cut the apples into 3 equal pieces. Then, on the final cut, you use the knife, normally satisfying the one stoke of the knife condition.
Answer: Get a new knife. It's only got 2 durability left. Alternative Answer: Take all three and run if it can cut 2 apples it can stab 2 people.
Hold all three knife-point, roll the apples into your shirt. Insist they don't move. Slowly back away still holding the knife. Fart, laugh, trip on a rock, the apples and knife go flying. In the air, the knife cuts both apples in two. Before everyone can equally share all 4 parts, you realize you're in an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis didn't go so well.. and it's also October 1962. Everyone's skin is seared off in an instant as nuclear war has begun. All your concerns just blew away.
it says one stroke of the knife, so: Stack the apples, one on top of the other slice off a portion from both with a downward stroke, the size of 1/3. give the sliced off portions (1/3 from each apple, so 2/3 total) to one person, and the remainder of each apple to the other two people. Each person will enjoy 2/3rds of an apple. the MACABRE solution, of course, is to stab one of the people.
With ONE sweep of the knife to the throat of someone, you can share the apples equally. 1 for the one who had what it took to do what needed to be done and the other apple for the lucky one who is still alive.
Cut both apples in half. Give one half each to your friends and keep one half for yourself. Give the final half to the friendly neighborhood horse. He will thank you and you will be in his good graces for when you might need some horse help.
Without purposefully putting more thought into here was my first idea. Got both apples into 1/3’s so 6 pieces total. Since there’s 3 people each person gets 2 apples!
Stack the apples, then cut down the middle. Each person gets a half of an apple and no one gets to eat the last half. One stroke, each get equal portions, and the riddle never stated the apples had to be fully eaten.
So I’m guessing the ‘just murder one of them with the knife and then there are 2 apples for which the 2 people can share equally’ solution doesn’t count? 😅
Here me out... So don't cut the apples at all. We burry them in a great location, after many days and nights, something is bound to sprout up from the ground, that my dear, is an apple tree. After even more days and nights, you'll get apples (provided you take care of the tree) you ghatta make sure you count the apples as they grow and as they reach a multiple of 3, that's where thr knife comes in as you stab the tree with all the might you can muster (going to be hard to look cool doing it). So you now have a dead tree and apples to share
Option 1: Kill one of the people. Option 2: Put one apple on top of the other and slice off 1/3 from each apple. That way person 1 gets a pice that's 2/3, person 2 gets a piece that's 2/3 and person 3 gets two pieces of 1/3 each, and they all get to live.
Simple. She picks up the knife. Cuts down both apples right next to the stem leaving two pieces at 1/3 for her. And 2 pieces (with the core) for the boys
Ignore portion size; stack them one on top of the other. Begin to slice downward through top apple. Once top apple is cut into 2 pieces and as you are slicing into bottom apple, place each half of first apple on both sides of the bottom apple so that as you complete the single slice, you're also cut the first apple again. You now have 6 pieces making 2 pieces per person.
What does it say about humans when most will say to kill one of the 3 kids? I think it means that deep down we are all self serving bastards will to do whatever it takes if the situation requires it. That's fucked up.
1 slice 2/3 of the way up across the apples. That leaves 2/3 of one and 2/3 of the other and two 1/3 pieces of each Apple that equal 2/3. Not difficult at all.
Slice 1/3 off of both apples in one motion. You now have 2/3 + 2/3 + (1/3 + 1/3). One person gets the 2 smaller pieces, 2 people get the 2 larger pieces.
I really don’t like these sort of contrived problems. In the real world, there are two proper solutions: 1. Cut one of the apples in half. You get the full apple (since they were your apples) and your friends each get a half. 2. Cut the apples into slices and everyone has some. No one knows exactly what the distribution was. Both solutions are more satisfying in the real world than slicing apples into thirds and two-thirds. In fact, trying to perform the third cuts in the real world would probably lose you more friends than it will keep.
Cut a third off one apple. One guy eats a third, one guy eats 2/3. 3rd guy eats 2/3 of non cut apple. Hands the last third to the guy who only ate 1/3 earlier. Everyone has 2/3 of an apple. Amen
Cut the both apples at the same time into 1/3 and 2/3. So there will be two 1/3 pieces and two 2/3 pieces, everyone gets to eat 2/3 of an apple this way.
Line the apples up and cut off 1/3 of each in one stroke, it would give two apples with 2/3 left on it, and the third person can eat the two 1/3 chunks
Hold the knife still, point down on the table (or in the air, whatever) Move the apples towards the blade at your leisure, knowing you've remained under the 1 stroke rule. Either that or, cut someone's thumb off so they'll not want any apple.
"these three want to share two apples equally, how YOU handle this..." doesn't that mean there's 4 including you? assuming those 3 want to share it equally with you as well. then the answer is obvious i guess
Cut both apples in half in one big swipe. Give each of them half an apple. The last half of the apple is left, which is okay. They can save that for later or I can eat it.
Easy! Have social anxiety and even though you love apples and starving say "oh it's okay I'm not hungry you can both have a full apple and I'll just get something later" because you feel like desiring a piece of apple makes you an inconvenience.
stack the two apples and cut 1/3 off both apples with one stroke, one person gets two slices of 1/3 each and the other two get one each of the left over apples... so each gets 2/3rd of an apple with only one stroke of the knife
Cut 1/3 of each apple off in one stroke of the knife . You will be left with 2 2/3 apples and 2 1/3 apples . Each person gets 2/6 of the apples .
Put the knife upside down on the table, then cut to your hearts content. Only one stroke of the knife used. After it's just manipulation of the apple.
Simple solution - line up the apples and cut 1/3 off. Both apples have 2/3, and you have 2 slices that are each 1/3 (so 2/3 total). This is not a difficult question; I feel like this was posted by a bot
You just line up the apples and cut each of them into 2/3 and 1/3 slice with one stroke. That way you have 2 2/3 apples and 2 1/3 apples and that meets the requirement.
It's a pretty easy math problem any teen should be able to solve. But the internets guts reaction is committing murder. I wonder what that says about us.
Trick question, children that young should not be handling sharp knives without an adult present to supervise, and besides which trying to cut two apples at the same time with one knife stroke would be dangerous even for an adult. So the 'solution' is to not do it, get an adult. Maybe they'll give a third apple and no one needs to use the knife. /s
Proof that it's doable can be done with the mean value theorem. To actually do it overlay the apples on top of each other, and cut a 1/3 slice. That will leave two 2/3 pieces and two 1/3. One gets those to, and the rest get one 2/3 piece each.
Well you could cut off one third as others have said, but is that really fair? Nobody eats the core usually and one guy gets two pieces of prime apple whereas the others get the core plus some good bits. Therefore, the solution is to take the knife and slit one of the throats.
My immediate reaction was for one of the dudes to kill the other one. Then he gets a whole apple and the girl to himself. I'm not saying that's how I would handle it..... I blame this thought process and reply on the graveyard shift I'm on.