In our blog, we presented three brief IQ test questions and invited you to give them a try. In a recent examination of all participants, only 17 percent achieved a perfect score of three out of three, implying that 83 percent of individuals did not succeed. We are curious to know how you fared on the test.
Question 1
A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?
Say the ball costs X. Then the bat costs $1 more, so it is X + 1. So we have bat + ball = X + (X + 1) = 1.1 because together they cost $1.10. This means 2X + 1 = 1.1, then 2X = 0.1, so X = 0.05. This means the ball costs 5 cents and the bat costs $1.05
Question 2
If it takes five machines five minutes to make five widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?
If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, then it takes 1 machine 5 minutes to make 1 widget (each machine is making a widget in 5 minutes). If we have 100 machines working together, then each can make a widget in 5 minutes. So there will be 100 widgets in 5 minutes.
Question 3
In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?
Every day FORWARD the patch doubles in size. So every day BACKWARDS means the patch halves in size. So on day 47 the lake is half full.
Let us know in comments how well you fared.