The Break Room
(Issue 12, 2008)

BrainTeaser Answers
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1.) Tank you very much
In a factory far, far away – a tank is filled 1/3 full with an unidentified liquid, and another tank of the same size is filled ¼ full with the same non-hazardous fluid. Both tanks are then topped off with water and mixed thoroughly. The resulting mixtures are pumped into a larger vessel and mixed together, before being returned to the original tanks. What is the resulting ratio of the unknown liquid to the water in each of the tanks?

Answer: The ratio is 7 parts unidentified liquid to 17 parts water.

Answer explained:

With fractions of 1/3 and 1/4 the least common denominator is 12. So we can say that the tanks are filled with 4/12ths and 3/12ths “fluid” respectively. That’s 4 parts “fluid” to 8 parts water in the first tank, and 3 parts “fluid” to 9 parts water in the second. Mixed together this yields 7 parts “fluid” to 17 parts water in the “larger vessel”. Assuming a good mixing, and that that the fluids stay mixed (i.e. nothing precipitates to the bottom of the tank) it really doesn’t mater how you divide it up after that it, the ratio will remain the same 7:17.

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2.) Slither Link
(also known as Fences and Puzzle-Loop) is a type of logic puzzle with simple rules and challenging solutions.

The rules are simple. You draw lines between the dots to form a single route (or ‘loop’) without crossings or branches. The numbers in each square indicate how many lines will be drawn about that square. A square with no number can have any number of lines bounding it. You can use logic to solve these puzzles, guessing should not be required.
Here is a simple Slither Link with the solution shown on the right:

Answer: Loop Puzzle 1.)

(click to enlarge)

Answer: Loop Puzzle 2.)

(click to enlarge)

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