[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by whyrms

so you assumed that the house number was 36 since it was the only product that was not unique? hence the second friend needed a third clue?
Well I supposed you got a point...

how about this one: "A truck traveling at a constant speed on a straight road suddenly makes a right turn. On the truck bed are two open lid crates that contains oranges and carrots. The crates are free to slide on the truck's bed since they are not attached to anything. During the sharp turn, what dropped?"

edit; the truck bed has side walls, so the box can't slide off the truck.

The speed of the truck dropped? That is my guess...

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

The speed of the truck dropped? That is my guess...

+1....thats what I was thinking. If it is traveling at a constant speed, by the nature of making a turn ...in theory the truck's speed should "drop."

I am a bit confused though by his hint "what gained?"

[808six]

i think this is more along the lines of a 20 questions riddle

eg why carrots and why oranges, is there naything else on the truck, like animals? why would it make a sudden right turn?

[whyrms]

hahaha yes the speed dropped but being a geek I wanted the answer to be "linear momentum dropped", and what was gained was "angular momentum"

[808six]

that was magnificent, got anymore?

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by whyrms

hahaha yes the speed dropped but being a geek I wanted the answer to be "linear momentum dropped", and what was gained was "angular momentum"

hahaha....c'mon man....we said the speed dropped....hahahahah ...that was the first thing I thought of when I saw it...I only got clued in because of the "constant speed" term. Thus, with no acceleration into the turn, angular momentum would increase and linear would decrease. Very good question!!

Alright here's one for you guys...

I got asked these two on an IV at a hedge fund...

must be done in your head..no calculators

1- "You have a room that is 5 ft wide x 5 ft long x 10 ft high. You completely fill the room with stacks of quarters, so essentially you have a room that is 5 X 5 X 10 and is filled with STACKED quarters. Assume the diameter of a quarter is 1" for simplistic purposes. If each of these stacks were laid on top of one another vertically, which would be taller: the entire stack of quarters or the empire state building??"

(I got this one right)

2- "How do you test a salt shaker?"

(Think about this one)

[jaiman]

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

hahaha....c'mon man....we said the speed dropped....hahahahah ...that was the first thing I thought of when I saw it...I only got clued in because of the "constant speed" term. Thus, with no acceleration into the turn, angular momentum would increase and linear would decrease. Very good question!!

Alright here's one for you guys...

I got asked these two on an IV at a hedge fund...

must be done in your head..no calculators

1- "You have a room that is 5 ft wide x 5 ft long x 10 ft high. You completely fill the room with stacks of quarters, so essentially you have a room that is 5 X 5 X 10 and is filled with STACKED quarters. Assume the diameter of a quarter is 1" for simplistic purposes. If each of these stacks were laid on top of one another vertically, which would be taller: the entire stack of quarters or the empire state building??"

(I got this one right)

2- "How do you test a salt shaker?"

(Think about this one)

1) Quarters are taller than the empire state building. Room is 120 inches tall, so you could put 60x60 120 inch high quarter towers in the room. 60x60 is 3600 columns of quarters. At 10 feet per story, this would mean the column would be 3600 stories.

2) Test it for what?

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by jaiman

1) Quarters are taller than the empire state building. Room is 120 inches tall, so you could put 60x60 120 inch high quarter towers in the room. 60x60 is 3600 columns of quarters. At 10 feet per story, this would mean the column would be 3600 stories.

2) Test it for what?

You sir...are correct!!

[n3985]

I got asked the following in my interview lol

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by n3985

I got asked the following in my interview lol

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

another good one....

What is the angle made between the hour hand and minute hand when the time is exactly 3:15?

[ktdw]

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

2- "How do you test a salt shaker?"

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

You sir...are correct!!

That would be the response that would make me want to smack the guy upside the head. I seriously would have to ask the candidate, "Are you not familiar with a salt shaker?" But, I'm not the only one, because I found this after a quick search on a similar question:

Puzzle 12: Here's a saltshaker. Show me how you would you test it.
Desired Response: The operative word is "show." The recruiter is not looking for profound originality here, but is looking for more than words. This is a variety of the deconstruction puzzle with a call to action. Does the applicant understand the functions of a salt shaker and how it is used? If so, the evaluation will be broken down into logical steps. For example, does the saltshaker really contain salt? Some saltshakers - especially those in fourth-grade cafeterias - contain sugar. The applicant now tastes the contents. Is the top on securely, a design flaw common in high school lunchrooms? Test the top. Are the holes sufficient for dispensing the right amount of salt? Do the test.

[jaiman]

Originally Posted by ktdw

That would be the response that would make me want to smack the guy upside the head. I seriously would have to ask the candidate, "Are you not familiar with a salt shaker?" But, I'm not the only one, because I found this after a quick search on a similar question:

Puzzle 12: Here's a saltshaker. Show me how you would you test it.
Desired Response: The operative word is "show." The recruiter is not looking for profound originality here, but is looking for more than words. This is a variety of the deconstruction puzzle with a call to action. Does the applicant understand the functions of a salt shaker and how it is used? If so, the evaluation will be broken down into logical steps. For example, does the saltshaker really contain salt? Some saltshakers - especially those in fourth-grade cafeterias - contain sugar. The applicant now tastes the contents. Is the top on securely, a design flaw common in high school lunchrooms? Test the top. Are the holes sufficient for dispensing the right amount of salt? Do the test.

My response isn't meant to be glib or flip. The interview context where I would expect that question and give that response is when I'm being interviewed for a job that requires precision and attention to detail. It tests how quick the candidate is to make assumptions.

[jaiman]

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

another good one....

What is the angle made between the hour hand and minute hand when the time is exactly 3:15?

360 degrees in a circle, so 6 degres per minute. 15 minutes is a 1/4 hour so the hour hand will be 1/4 of the way between 3 and 4. 1/4 * 30 degrees is 7.5 degrees.

[Pink Taco]

damn... my head hurts

[jaiman]

Originally Posted by n3985

I got asked the following in my interview lol

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

This test is about showing a logical thought process. 300mm people in the US.Assume an average of 1 car per person, means there are 300mm cars. If we assums the average person fills up 5 times per month, that would be 1500mm fillups. Assume It takes 5 minutes to fill up a car. Assume the average gas staion has 4 bays and could fill 48 cars per hour at full capacity. Assume that utilization rate for gas stations is 10%. So typical gas station does 5 cars per hour. 24 hours in a day, and a typical gas station does 120 cars a day, about 43,000 fills per year. 1500mm/43k is 32k gas stations.

Which is wrong, btw. But the thought process is logical.

[inabis]

Originally Posted by n3985

I got asked the following in my interview lol

How many gas stations are there in the United States?

I'd say too many

Edit: So asking what the test is trying to find is the correct answer? That was my first reaction...what are you testing for? It could be a multitude of things for example....

Here's an easy one: Why are manhole covers round?

[n3985]

I came up with 100,000 by doing it a different way which apparently wasn't far from the answer (and not as logical as yours)

300mm population and avg 60% of population working at any given time so 2/3 = 200mm people

200mm people with more than 50% living in major coastal cities which have access to public trans which leave at least 100mm need to commute so 100mm cars.

Avg commute is 20 miles and avg gas per mileage is 20 mpg so need at least 2 gallon per day for 100mm cars. Gas station tanks hold 10,000 gallons so 200mm gallons/10,000 =10,000 x 5 working days (arbitrary) = 100,000 stations needed at minimum to meet 5 day work commute demand alone

Many of the data I happened to remember from a marketing class demographic study lol (and i got the job)

[MJC///M3]

Originally Posted by inabis

I'd say too many

Edit: So asking what the test is trying to find is the correct answer? That was my first reaction...what are you testing for? It could be a multitude of things for example....

Here's an easy one: Why are manhole covers round?

~so they dont fall into the hole they are covering
~since manhole covers are extremely heavy, making them round would make it easier for workers to move them (i.e...rollling them instead of carrying)
~when placed back, you do not have to re-align them since the hole and the cover are both round.

[MJC///M3]

You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

[ktdw]

Originally Posted by MJC///M3

You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

For 58 seconds, I would curse out the a**hole who threw me into the blender. Then I would lay flat at the bottom, and pray.

[Pink Taco]

^^ LOL... i would curse out the whole time and lay flat

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by inabis

Here's an easy one: Why are manhole covers round?

Cause the construction workers that use them are also round... duh.