Math question: It's in the box.?

Question

How would I do this problem?
There are two boxes: one marked A and one marked B. Each box contains either a million dollars or a deadly snake that will kill you instantly. You must open one box. On box A there is a sign that reads: "At least one of these boxes contains one million dollars." ON box B there is a sign that reads:" A deadly snake that will kill you instantly is in Box A. You are told that both signs are true or both are false. Which box do you open? Be careful, the wrong answer is fatal!

Answer 1

The answer is Box B.
You already know one box contains one million dollars and one contains a deadly snake. The sign on Box A says that at least one of the boxes contains one million dollars, which you already know to be true. Therefore if both signs have to be true or both have to be false, you know that the sign on Box B must also be true. Since that sign says Box A contains the snake, then Box B contains the money.

Answer 2

Open Box B

You have been told that both statements on the boxes are true or both are false. Assume first that both are true. If that is the case, then A) one of the boxes does contain a million dollars and B) Box A contains the snake.

Now assume that both statements are false. If that is the case then A) neither box contains a million dollars and B) the snake is in Box B (or maybe there is no snake at all!)

But the problem states that "Each box contains either a million dollars or a deadly snake that will kill you instantly", so the statement on Box A cannot be false (and is therefore true) meaning that - since both statements must be either true or both false - the statement on Box B is also true

Answer 3

That's when you get the crusty neighbor to open the box for you lol. Just kidding.
The reality is that I would take the heaviest box, since1 million dollars would be quite heavy.
Following the SPIRIT of the question, I would choose to open box B. Melissa B. just because you got the right answer doesn't mean your logic isn't flawed. It clearly states that EACH box has either a snake or money. IT DOES NOT SAY that one box has a snake and the other has money. So the reality is that both boxes could contain money or both could contain snakes.
IF BOTH SIGNS ARE FALSE, then there is a snake in each box.
IF BOTH SIGNS ARE TRUE (which we would all hope), then there is a snake in A and money in B.
Since you HAVE to open a box, open B box because you have the best CHANCE (50/50) of getting money.

Answer 4

None of them if both statements are false...but if you had to open a box then you would do Box A.... there is no million dollars and a deadly snake. If both are true then you would open box b obviously

Answer 5

Do you know for sure that one box has a million dollars and one box has a snake? If so, the answer is B. If not, and it's possible they both contain snakes or money, you can't answer the question.

Answer 6

Make a quick decision table on a paper, will help you a lot