Three men are sitting in a row and each wearing a hat from the pool of 5 available hats (2 black, and 3 white).
The man in back can see the hats of the 2 men in front of him; the 2nd man can see the hat of the man in front of him.
No one can see their own hat.
They are to receive $100 if they stand and correctly identify their hat color; they will be fined $200 if they attempt and are wrong.
After a few minutes pass, the man in front, who can’t see any of the hats, stands up and identifies his hat.
What color is his hat? And why?
2007-03-28 08:55:12 · 6 answers · asked by Andy C 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Jokes & Riddles
White
If the last guy had seen 2 black - he would know his is white... he doesn't, so 1 and 2 are (black and white) or (white and white)
The second guy knows this - if the guy in front of him had black - he would know he is white.... he doesn't, so the guy in front of him must be white!!!!
2007-03-28 09:08:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Third guy can see two hats. If they were both black, then he'd answer first..his being white. If one was black and one white, or both were white, #3 wouldn't say anything (and he doesn't) because he would be guessing.
Guy #2 sees one hat. If he see's a black hat (on #1) and #3 says nothing, then he would know that he is wearing the white hat. If he sees a white hat on #1 and #3 still says nothing, he would still be guessing and thus say nothing.
Since neither #2 or #3 said anything, #1 knows that he is wearing a white hat.
2007-03-28 16:15:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The key here is the "few minutes" passed. If both the two men in front are wearing black hats, then the last man would've answered without waiting "few minutes". Because of that, we can deduce that the two men in front are either wearing black & white hats, or both white hats.
Now if the front man was wearing black, then the middle man would've answered white because he knows that the last man does not know the answer, which means front and middle men can't both be wearing black hats.
Since neither middle or last man can answer, the front man can deduce that only option is two white hats for him & the middle man.
2007-03-28 16:14:28 · answer #3 · answered by yungr01 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
White. he can see the two black hats that weren't used and knows that all the hats are white.
2007-03-28 16:03:44 · answer #4 · answered by ntemp01 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
White, they are all white because the two black ones are still in the pool of hats.
2007-03-28 16:01:47 · answer #5 · answered by ac 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
His hat is white.
The other two men have already said that their hats were black, and were correct.
2007-03-28 16:13:03 · answer #6 · answered by chasersixtythree 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋