Math Riddles

Answer: Here are the two solutions. This is usually solved with guess and check although using logic may be faster. We know that each queen must be in it's own row vertically and horizontally. We also know that 4 of the queens must be on white and 4 on black. This is true because with 4 queens on the same color all of the rest of that color is venerable to attack. (It could be done with math).

Answer: The back prisoner will yell "black" if there is an odd number of black hats in front of him and "white" if there is an even number of black hats in front of him. The next prisoner will then count the number of black hats in front of him and if it was odd and is now even, or vice versa, then that person knows what color their hat is. The next person then knows their hat color based on what the people before them said and how many black hats are in front of them. In this way the front 99 prisoners will know their hat color and will be set free. The prisoner in the back who goes first has a 50 percent chance of being set free.

Answer: 17 hours. At 17 hours the one plant will take up 1/4 of the lake (1/2 of 1/2). At 17 hours the two plants would be double the size of the one plant and double 1/4 is one half.

Answer: 8 pieces. Make two cuts like you normally would then one horizontal cut from the side of the cake.

Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1000.