Crack the code, solve the riddle, or answer the trivia

sprinkles said:
Was the answer 98?
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Yes, for the remaining water, the total being 100.

Here's the full answer to my question:

Since the gross weight changes with the net water weight, figuring out the total from the percentage and the unchanging weight seems difficult with a series of subtractions.

0,99 * 200 = 198
0,98 * x (remaining total) = y (remaining water)

So we must use the unchanging part, the dry matter, or the bucket, as the starting point:

0,01 * 200 = 2 (what doesn't change when water is taken)
0,02 * x (new gross weight) = 2 || *50
x = 100

Or to put it more simply, if the dry weight remains at 2 kilos, the total has to be 100 if the water is 98% of it. 1/100 (1%) changes into 1/50 (2%), so the amount is halved.

It's a confusing question that seems to stir up the same debate every time, and the fact that we're talking about cucumbers is a distraction since it seems impossible that they'd lose half their weight.

So this is why Ren's question seems related, even the numbers being the same, 200 and 100.
 
Fidicen said:
Use the hoverwheels and go back to the future. Or the past.

bttf02.jpg
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I was thinking that too, but the train's max speed is 70 mph and time travel is only possible at 88 mph! ;)

How about:
Rafter_photos_train_smaller.jpg

;)
 
Fidicen said:
Yes, for the remaining water, the total being 100.

Here's the full answer to my question:

Since the gross weight changes with the net water weight, figuring out the total from the percentage and the unchanging weight seems difficult with a series of subtractions.

0,99 * 200 = 198
0,98 * x (remaining total) = y (remaining water)

So we must use the unchanging part, the dry matter, or the bucket, as the starting point:

0,01 * 200 = 2 (what doesn't change when water is taken)
0,02 * x (new gross weight) = 2 || *50
x = 100

Or to put it more simply, if the dry weight remains at 2 kilos, the total has to be 100 if the water is 98% of it. 1/100 (1%) changes into 1/50 (2%), so the amount is halved.

It's a confusing question that seems to stir up the same debate every time, and the fact that we're talking about cucumbers is a distraction since it seems impossible that they'd lose half their weight.

So this is why Ren's question seems related, even the numbers being the same, 200 and 100.
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Yeah I figured that out when I tried to prove it and found I was wrong.
 
Also it was funny because I was like "ok, if we remove all the water, we're left with 2. If we add 2 units back, we have 4, so 50% of its weight is water.... oh snap"
 
Ren said:
A train is traveling at its max speed of 70mph. It's on a long journey and the route heads through a massive forest. Soon the train crew is informed that there is a wildfire an hour behind it, which is traveling at a speed of 80mph due to strong winds pushing behind. It will catch up with the train before the end of the forest is reached, and roast everyone inside it.
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My first thought was that maybe you're trying to trick us with some form of that Zeno's paradox, but you clearly state that the fire catches up with the train anyway, so no need to play around with limits and infinities. My second thought was that I'll reverse the train and drive toward the fire. But we don't know whether it's a wall of fire or if we'll just drive into 100 miles of burning forest. That's as far as I got so far.
 
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Ren said:
A train is traveling at its max speed of 70mph. It's on a long journey and the route heads through a massive forest. Soon the train crew is informed that there is a wildfire an hour behind it, which is traveling at a speed of 80mph due to strong winds pushing behind. It will catch up with the train before the end of the forest is reached, and roast everyone inside it.

What do you do?
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Turn the train around. You may think I'm joking but really I'm not.

Relative velocity of 150 mph (67 m/s)? Yeah I think we can get through that fire in a pinch.
 
Maybe if this is all the information we have, it's better to start reversing anyway. Our survival will then depend on how long the fire keeps burning after it has reached a certain point, so we'll just have to take the risk that once we meet the fire the burning zone will be hundreds of miles long. We already should know the distance travelled through the forest, so that should give us some idea of whether it's possible to reach the end.

But if there's a certain solution that can be deduced from the information given, I'm still lost.
 
Overthinking ahoy! :grin:

Fidicen, the other thing I was thinking is that we're assuming we're dealing with constant velocities. The fire is being pushed forward by the heavy winds, yes? Weather is a local phenomenon. Perhaps we don't have to do anything, cause the fire will slow down on its own. :tearsofjoy:
 
I feel like you guys are too scientifically competent for this riddle, lol. It's more about being crafty/cunning than scientifically accurate, really. I may have misled you with the basic framework, so let me try to clarify how it goes.

The train is followed by a wall of fire that is going faster because it's being pushed by wind. The wall of fire will eventually catch up with it and burn it to the ground, because there's really no end in sight to the forest. Maybe going backwards would be a solution, but there's certainly an element of risk to it. What would be the best way to survive for everyone?

We can say that the fire will only catch up with the train in fifteen hours - so long as it's clear that the forest is huge and the train will only get out of it in, say, twenty hours. The idea is that something must be done because the fire will eventually catch up with the train.
 
Ren said:
The wall of fire will eventually catch up with it and burn it to the ground, because there's really no end in sight to the forest.
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How can the train burn to the ground? Is it not made out of steel? If it's an ordinary train I'd worry more about suffocating than burning to death.
 
Too scientifically competent. Best. Compliment. Ever. :relaxed:

Okay fine. How about we stop the train, everyone get out, grab an axe, and let's all chop down a nice chuck of the forest, and stop the fire from spreading further? It really can't keep going if there is no forest.
 
Fidicen said:
How can the train burn to the ground? Is it not made out of steel? If it's an ordinary train I'd worry more about suffocating than burning to death.
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Yes, suffocating, burning to death or any likewise form of perishing in dreadful circumstances :muahaha:
 
So basically we're in the next installment of Final Destination. :grin:
 
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Lady Jolanda said:
Okay fine. How about we stop the train, everyone get out, grab an axe, and let's all chop down a nice chuck of the forest, and stop the fire from spreading further? It really can't keep going if there is no forest.
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Too risky within the time constraints, the lack of woodcutting equipment and the fact the logs of wood wouldn't disappear.

(Jayzis I've a feeling that you guys are going to be infuriated by the solution :tearsofjoy:)
 
Infuriated by the solution... Oh please don't tell me the solution is to pray to God? :p:tearsofjoy:

*flees*
 
Lady Jolanda said:
How about we stop the train, everyone get out, grab an axe, and let's all chop down a nice chuck of the forest
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For example pine trees can be about 20 meters long so we'd need to clear an area of π*r squared, 1256 square meters. Typical forest density might be 120 trees per acre which is 4046 square meters, so the area would have about 38 trees, let's say 40. Assuming the train has 10 cars and each one has one hefty emergency axe, and we have 10 hours left, passengers taking turns in chopping to ensure efficient work, the 10 axes would only need to cut 4 trees per hour. It's hard work but conceivable.

Ren says we're being too scientific. The solution? Try to be even more scientific :grin:
 
Yeah I see your point Fidicen. It's kind of hard to turn off all that academic training. But that's exactly what's needed here, so I'm going to take a break. The answer to the other riddle came to me randomly at 1 at night, so this will hit me at some point too. The intuition will find a way!
 
Dismissed ideas:

Make a sail to travel as fast as the wind since the train is too heavy to get a speed boost from it (out of what? and get thrown about by winds, hit your head on a tree and die?)
Call for helicopter rescue (the wind is too strong, that's a hurricane level wind)
Wait for the fire, stay close to the floor (the method of death was uncertain, so there must be some obvious solution that covers everything)
Use the water in the train to put out the fire (it costs 4 euros per half a litre bottle, not enough money)
Mass suicide, souls get rescued by the alien mothership behind Vulcanus (never worked before)
Request help from the EU (they'll just add fuel to the fire hoping it'll burn more quickly)
Request help from NATO (Trump will bomb the forest and us with it)
Request help from the UN (Russia vetoed. Besides, the council is still having a meeting, although they did release a statement condemning the fire)
Request help from infjs.com (suffocate under the outburst of memes and hug emoticons)
Calm the hurricane by throwing bombs into them (sharks will fall from the sky, killing everyone)
Have an orgy because you're not going to survive anyway (well...)
 
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