Logic Test From My Interview
February 12th, 2009
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I had a job interview today, where they gave me a logic test. I didn’t get to keep it, but I remembered most of the questions. Have fun!
1. Split 110 into two parts, so that one part is 150% of the other. What are the two numbers?
2. There are 100 people, and everyone is either a football player or a basketball player. There is at least one football player. For any two people, at least one of them is a basketball player. How many football players are there?
3. The number 8,549,176,320 is the only one of its kind. Can you figure out what’s so special about it?
4. There are 20 questions on a test. You gain 10 points for each correct answer, and lose 5 points for each incorrect answer. Someone answers all the questions and gets 125 points. How many questions did they get wrong?
5. Two coins add up to $0.55, and one of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins?
6. What is the biggest number you can make using two numbers? Just two numbers, no other mathematical symbols.
[When they say "just two numbers," I took that to mean two digits.]
7. The number of lilly pads in a pond doubles every day. Starting with just one lilly pad on the first day, the pond is completely covered with lilly pads after 60 days. How long did it take for the pond to be half covered?
8. An adult and two children need to cross a river. They have a boat that either child is able to handle by themselves. The boat can carry either the adult or both children, but not the adult and a child at the same time. How can they cross the river?
9. Someone introduces you to your mother’s only sister’s husband’s sister in law. He has no brothers. How do you address this person?
[This isn't stated too well, but I assume "he" refers to your mother's sister's husband.]
10. There are two different colors of socks in a drawer. Without looking at them, how many do you need to take out to ensure you have a matching pair?
11. According to someone’s will, $666,666 is to be divided between 2 fathers and 2 sons. They discuss it, and each person gets $222,222. Explain.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Oh, lord, my eyeballs just glazed over.
Hayden Tompkins´s last blog post..Spending Valentine’s Alone
February 12th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
@ Hayden, yeah, that’s what made me think they should give people the test at the very beginning and say “You can give up and go home whenever you like!” I think I got all but one though.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
So… what kind of job were you applying? And which one did you miss? Are you going to share the answers sometime?
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..Soulmate Sucks
February 13th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Wait, I just noticed — you mean you memorized all this by heart? Do you realize that’s kinda special skill??
Akemi – Yes to Me´s last blog post..My Spiritual Make Money Scheme
February 13th, 2009 at 12:14 am
@ Akemi, it’s a software job. These questions aren’t directly related (I wish), but I guess they think the test measures something important.
Yeah, I remembered most of them, but not exactly word for word, and I forget some of the questions. Though I impressed myself by remembering 8,549,176,320, especially since that was the one I didn’t get!
I’ll share the answers after people have time to work on this. You know, the people who would rather take a test than celebrate Valentine’s Day!
February 13th, 2009 at 3:26 am
Lemme go guess #6:
Biggest number would be 8 (made up by 2 “0′s”, one on top of the other).
I glanced through the rest. Lol! Back to studying for my final exam this coming monday!
All the best to your new software job Hunter!
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February 13th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Oh shoot. There too can be 9^9 (in exact form, its a big 9 on the left, and a tiny 9 written on the top right side from the latter as the power to the number).
Daniel Richard´s last blog post..8 Reasons To Why We Say Auspicious Phrases On Chinese New Year
February 13th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Fun! I don’t mind these types of tests as long as they give me a reasonable amount of time to mull them over. I find that I either get the answers immediately, or almost never. Only a few come to me after using paper. In this case, # 3 and # 5 were killing me, so I Googled the answers and had to laugh! Curious – do you assume they know you blog, and if so, does that limit what you feel you can say?
February 14th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
@ Daniel, it’s interesting that you thought about putting one number on top of another, but not two numbers next to each other. I think most people would say 99. But yeah, your second answer is right: 99.
@ Annie, I don’t necessarily assume they know I blog, but I assume they could know. I don’t think that limits me though, because there’s nothing I want to say that I’m not already saying.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
#9: I’m assuming the answer is mother, but the husband could has a gay sister who lives in Massechusetts and is married so then I would have no clue how to address that person other than “aunt.”
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 pm
@ Bill, they didn’t specify, but I think they weren’t thinking about Massachusetts!
November 8th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Hi Hunter, thanks for the questions. this is really interesting!
I could answer most of the questions, but i’m still wondering about number 11. how come everyone gets $222222? that really confused me. and how many minutes are you allowed to do it?
November 8th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
@ Max, thanks for playing along! For #11, there’s a guy (a son), his dad (a father and a son), and his grandfather (a father). There are two fathers and two sons among the three people. Although they’re ignoring the fact that the grandfather is also a son (just not the son of anyone else in the puzzle).
There was no set time limit that I know of. After I finished, I left the room to find my interviewer, but the whole office was gone, so I just waited.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
My attempt
1. 44 & 66
2. one football player
3. all digits are used but no clue whats so special
4. 5 wrongs!
5. no clue
6. 9^9
7. 59 days
8. easy.. 2 kids take the boat, one brings it back, and then father goes and other kid brings it back etc
9. Mother
10. 3
11. Already answered by someone above
February 17th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
@ Sneha,
3. This is the hardest one. You’ve figured out part of it. But the digits aren’t just all used – they’re used in a very specific order. See if you can figure it out.
5. A half dollar and a nickel.
Just glanced at your other answers – I think they’re right.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:45 am
Prepping for an interview tomorrow, so thanks for this SO much.
The only one I have input on that I don’t think has been answered correctly yet is 5.
I think you use an american coin and a coin from a foreign country that could convert to the necessary difference. IE a 5c piece from canada and a 50c piece from USA assuming conversion rate of 1:1 (depends on known conversion rates, obviously).
Any chance you’ll post the answers soon-ish?
February 18th, 2010 at 12:58 am
@ Sam, I think the answers have all been given in the comments. For number 5, you’re overthinking it. Pay careful attention to the wording of the question. (My previous comment gives the answer.)
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 am
The reason the number is so special is because the numbers are in alphabetical order when spell out.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:05 am
Can someone please show me how to solve #1. I got the answer, but I would like to solve it as an equation.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:29 pm
@ Salomon, the equations for #1 are:
x + y = 110
y = 1.5x
Therefore, 2.5x = 110, x = 44, y = 66.