Coffee tea riddle

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dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,898
4,485
126
I'll throw in a twist. Suppose the drinks were hot and the spoon was room temperature (quite a reasonable assumption). Suppose you did the transfer and mixing in typical amounts of time (ie you didn't take an eternity for either step, also quite a reasonable assumption).

The result: the spoon probably expanded from the time of the first scoop to the time of the second scoop since it heated up more during the mixing than it had during the first dip into the first cup (almost all spoons would be made of materials that expand with increased temperatures). Since the riddle said the spoon was full, you transferred more material in the second scoop.

With that reasonable twist, you transfer more tea to the coffee than there is coffee in the tea.
 
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sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
99,337
17,542
126
I am officially an idiot.

Kept thinking about ratio as opposed to amount. Even then my first scenario should have yielded the same ratio.

<===Utter fail.
 

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
13,749
6
81
I'll throw in a twist. Suppose the drinks were hot and the spoon was room temperature (quite a reasonable assumption). Suppose you did the transfer and mixing in typical amounts of time (ie you didn't take an eternity for either step, also quite a reasonable assumption).

The result: the spoon probably expanded from the time of the first scoop to the time of the second scoop since it heated up more during the mixing than it had during the first dip into the first cup (almost all spoons would be made of materials that expand with increased temperatures). Since the riddle said the spoon was full, you transferred more material in the second scoop.

With that reasonable twist, you trasnfer more tea to the coffee than there is coffee in the tea.


Since we're using reasonable assumptions, I will also reasonably assume the human error of capturing an exact equal amount of liquid from spooning liquid means that there is no way to determine if there's more coffee than tea or vice versa. ;)
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,898
4,485
126
Since we're using reasonable assumptions, I will also reasonably assume the human error of capturing an exact equal amount of liquid from spooning liquid means that there is no way to determine if there's more coffee than tea or vice versa. ;)
That is quite a good point. But, it violates the terms of the riddle. Riddle terms are indisputable as far as riddle solving goes. It said full. That means, no more and no less than full.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
37,049
32,362
136
You know, after re-reading the riddle, it doesn't actually say you take coffee from the coffee cup. You could be just adding additional coffee from the coffee pot.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,688
126
You know, after re-reading the riddle, it doesn't actually say you take coffee from the coffee cup. You could be just adding additional coffee from the coffee pot.

I noticed that too, but I figured it was a mistake and just ignored it.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
454
126
The over analyzing this thread has produced makes me sad for the future of our race.
 

brblx

Diamond Member
Mar 23, 2009
5,499
2
0
how are people still arguing about this?

why don't you go fight over whether or not a plane will take off on a conveyer belt. :rolleyes:

it speaks volumes for our society when having to use a basic logical scientific thought process for about half a second qualifies something as a 'riddle.'
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
37,049
32,362
136
how are people still arguing about this?

why don't you go fight over whether or not a plane will take off on a conveyer belt. :rolleyes:

it speaks volumes for our society when having to use a basic logical scientific thought process for about half a second qualifies something as a 'riddle.'
I don't think anyone here is still arguing.
 

Blackjack200

Lifer
May 28, 2007
15,995
1,688
126
He just wants someone to acknowledge his previous post that no one understood what the fuck he was talking about.

You mean this one?

obvious riddle is obvious. who the fuck doesn't know that 'an amount' is more than part of said amount? do you think the motherfucker in the riddle has a magical spoon that ONLY scoops a certain liquid from a homogeneous mixture?

Yeah, I have no idea what that even means.
 

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
More coffee particles than tea particles, because of the nature of how coffee is brewed vs tea. Equal volume of the liquids.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,695
31,043
146
More coffee particles than tea particles, because of the nature of how coffee is brewed vs tea. Equal volume of the liquids.

Honestly, I now read the riddle to be coffee =x, tea = y, where x and y can be any liquid, so physical properties and concentrations are irrelevant.

I can't help but think of molar concentrations when I'm confronted with reagents, so that's the first thing I think about. If that's what we're talking about, here, then there's certainly going to be a measurable difference in solute concentrations between the 2 equal volumes of reagents.

But that is not what this riddle is asking.
 

Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
2,456
350
126
Fenixgoon got it right - the two cups have identical proportions. One has mostly Coffee, one has mostly Tea, but the Coffee % in one is the same as the Tea % in the other.

No, it does not make a difference what cup and spoon sizes you use. I used realistic 1 cup = 250 ml. and 1 teaspoon = 5 ml.
 

Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
You morons are assuming that this special spoon can somehow mix the two liquids in a perfect fashion, and then perfectly pick up exactly the same perfect coffee/tea ratio. I'd love to see this actually happen in real life.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
You morons are assuming that this special spoon can somehow mix the two liquids in a perfect fashion, and then perfectly pick up exactly the same perfect coffee/tea ratio. I'd love to see this actually happen in real life.

lol are you serious?

It's a fucking riddle....you're supposed to assume certain things.

now STFU dumbass.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
Fenixgoon got it right - the two cups have identical proportions. One has mostly Coffee, one has mostly Tea, but the Coffee % in one is the same as the Tea % in the other.

No, it does not make a difference what cup and spoon sizes you use. I used realistic 1 cup = 250 ml. and 1 teaspoon = 5 ml.

Someone showed earlier that if you use a spoon larger than what the volume of liquid starts with, it doesn't come out the same.
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
10,571
3
71
lol are you serious?

It's a fucking riddle....you're supposed to assume certain things.

now STFU dumbass.

No you don't have to assume that it picks up a perfect ratio nor do you have to assume that the mix is perfect. If anything you only have to assume the spoon is smaller than the cup amd that the spoon transfers the same quantity of material every time.

I feel like I've stated this multiple times in this thread. Most of the analysis is assume a perfect blend however the clever part is that it doesn't matter how well they get mixed
 
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Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
lol are you serious?

It's a fucking riddle....you're supposed to assume certain things.

now STFU dumbass.

If you are supposed to assume something, it should be stated properly in the riddle. Otherwise you can only go with the information given.

I suppose the cups are sitting on a frictionless treadmill and we are supposed to see if they take off.

Now go fuck yourself.
 
Oct 20, 2005
10,978
44
91
If you are supposed to assume something, it should be stated properly in the riddle. Otherwise you can only go with the information given.

I suppose the cups are sitting on a frictionless treadmill and we are supposed to see if they take off.

Now go fuck yourself.

Now you're just being overly dramatic about it. It's a fucking math riddle. The idea is to try to think through the calculations.

It's logical to assume that the spoon mixes it perfectly. It's logical to assume that when it scoops up the mixtures, it does so in a perfect ratio. It's not logical to complain and call people morons because the riddle didn't state the spoon was perfect.

Hell, by your logic, no riddle works b/c you can always find something wrong with it if you are going to the extremes that you are going to.

Numenorean: "deeeeeeerrrrrrrr it never said we were on planet earth, so the gravity and lack of oxygen screws up the molecules inside each cup. This riddle is flawed from the start and anyone who tries to solve it or come up with a solution is a moron......deerrrrrrrrrr"