Neurobics

Neurobics Answers

Cricket Team: Darran is the engineer and he plays for Canterbury.

Tea Party: Here's how the guests were sitting -- the ages are around the table, the card numbers are on it:

(1) The four aces will divide the pack into five segments of size between 0 and 48 cards. The average segment is thus 48/5 = 9.6 cards and it will take 10.6 cards to produce an ace.

(2) The smaller piece of stick can be anything between close to zero and half the length of the stick. Its length then, on average, is one quarter the length of the stick.

(3) The most likely alternative is at least one six when 6 dice are thrown.

(4) (a) Since we know at least one of the chicks is male the set of possibilities for the gender of the four chicks is slightly reduced. The answer, after a bit of arithmetic, is 7/12.

(b) The answer is clearly 1/2.

Russell Dear is a Mathematician living in Invercargill