the king has 13 tax collectors. 1 of the tax collectors is stealing from him, by shaving the same amount off the gold coins. The king knows he's being robbed, but he doesnt know which 1 is stealing. he gets a scale, that he can use only once, how can the king discover which collector is stealing from him?
2007-04-10 16:25:31 · 5 answers · asked by T-Man 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Jokes & Riddles
Assuming all coins are a known standard weight and there are sufficient coins and that the King knows how much is being removed from each coin and that less than one thirteenth is being shaved; he can:
Put one coin from collector one, two coins from collector two, three coins from tax collector three etc.on the scale.
From the total weight he should be able to deduce which tax collector was shorting him
2007-04-10 17:08:39 · answer #1 · answered by J C 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to know how much the tax collector is taking from each coin. Otherwise the answer for these questions doesn't work.
2007-04-10 23:50:32 · answer #2 · answered by Nick R 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He has all the 13 tax collectors weigh the gold they bring.
Since he can only use it once, didnt say anthing about the tax collectors.
2007-04-10 23:30:14 · answer #3 · answered by dacnn82001 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
same amount of gold coins! same as what? same as shaving off always, or same as the collection.
2007-04-11 00:19:46 · answer #4 · answered by prs 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put all of them on the scale and then take them off one by one and then you'll find out which one has stole.
OR
Put their money on the scale.
2007-04-11 00:07:53 · answer #5 · answered by *Suga* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋