top button
Flag Notify
    Connect to us
      Site Registration

Site Registration

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?

0 votes
427 views

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles and 2 empty bowls. He then says, "Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die."

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?

posted Dec 17, 2015 by Anuradha Tabyal

Share this puzzle
Facebook Share Button Twitter Share Button LinkedIn Share Button

1 Answer

0 votes

I'll first put 25 black marbles in each bowl. I'll then put 25 white marbles in each bowl on top of black marbles. So, even if bowls' positions are changed while I'm blindfolded and asked to pick one marble from a bowl, I'll probably be picking the white marble anyway.

answer Dec 17, 2015 by anonymous



Similar Puzzles
+1 vote

You have two buckets: one with only white marbles and one with only black marbles. The two buckets have the same number of marbles.

How can you rearrange the marbles to maximize your chances of grabbing a white marble from each?

+3 votes

This was asked in an interview of Infosys.
Interviewer has given me 100 marbles(50 white and 50 black) and two empty boxes.
He then told me that he will leave the room and i need to place all the marbles in two boxes.

And When he come back, he will draw a marble from any of the two box and if the marble is black i will be hired.

Also
* No box can be empty.
* All 100 marbles must be placed in one of the two boxes.

So whats should i have done ?

+1 vote

Mark and Sam each have a bag with the same number of marbles.

How many marbles must Mark give Sam so that Sam will have ten more marbles than Mark?

...