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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. Puzzle time - the church quilt

Puzzle time - the church quilt

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  • jon-nycJ Online
    jon-nycJ Online
    jon-nyc
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    You come along just as a church raffle is closing; its prize is a quilt worth $100 to you, but they've only sold 25 tickets. At $1 a ticket, how many tickets should you buy?

    Only non-witches get due process.

    • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
    1 Reply Last reply
    • jon-nycJ Online
      jon-nycJ Online
      jon-nyc
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      (Suspend disbelief about a quilt being worth $100 if you need to)

      Only non-witches get due process.

      • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
      1 Reply Last reply
      • taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girlT Offline
        taiwan_girl
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        There are unlimited tickets?

        jon-nycJ 1 Reply Last reply
        • KlausK Offline
          KlausK Offline
          Klaus
          wrote on last edited by Klaus
          #4

          ||-75||

          OK, it's the other maximum. But I don't want to spoil it yet. I know that @George-K is also a big fan of these puzzles, hence I'll leave him the chance to answer first.

          Seriously, guys and gals: This isn't hard! There's one step that requires a little bit of math background if you want to "solve" it, but one can just as well skip that step and try a few values to find the solution.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • CopperC Offline
            CopperC Offline
            Copper
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            My wife works with a quilting group that raffles the quilts for thousands, although usually it is hundreds. It's all for charity, mostly for needy children and they also make pillows used in ICUs.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • markM Offline
              markM Offline
              mark
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              If it's worth a $100 to you, then buy 100 tickets, you cheap bastard! lol

              1 Reply Last reply
              • taiwan_girlT taiwan_girl

                There are unlimited tickets?

                jon-nycJ Online
                jon-nycJ Online
                jon-nyc
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                @taiwan_girl said in Puzzle time - the church quilt:

                There are unlimited tickets?

                Sure.

                Only non-witches get due process.

                • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                1 Reply Last reply
                • jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nycJ Online
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Klaus's wrong answer offers me evidence that he knows the right one.

                  Only non-witches get due process.

                  • Cotton Mather, Salem Massachusetts, 1692
                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • AxtremusA Offline
                    AxtremusA Offline
                    Axtremus
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    ||Expected return is ($100N/(N+25))-$1N where N is the number of tickets you buy. Find the N that gives you the maximum value for 100N/(N+25)-N . N=25.||

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • AxtremusA Offline
                      AxtremusA Offline
                      Axtremus
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Pad with another post because the index page actually displays part of the content in spoiler.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • KlausK Offline
                        KlausK Offline
                        Klaus
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        Come on, Ax. Show us that you can properly derive that thing and find its zeros. 🙂

                        1 Reply Last reply
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