life or death

You are a prisoner sentenced to death. The Emperor offers you a chance to live by playing a simple game. He gives you 50 black marbles, 50 white marbles, and 2 empty bowls. He then says, 'Divide these 100 marbles into these 2 bowls. You can divide them any way you like as long as you use all the marbles. Then I will blindfold you and mix the bowls around. You then can choose one bowl and remove ONE marble. If the marble is WHITE you will live, but if the marble is BLACK... you will die.'

How do you divide the marbles up so that you have the greatest probability of choosing a WHITE marble?




Similar Riddles

Akbar called Birbal and asked him to draw a line on the floor. He asked Birbal to make that line smaller without erasing it. Birbal smiled and did it before Akbar could blink his eyes.

How did he managed to do it?

Akbar Birbal line on the floor riddle

Asked by Neha on 07 May 2021


A bridge is about to collapse. There are four people P, Q, R and S on one of the sides. Before the bridge collapses, they want to cross it. Now since the bridge is too weak, it can only stand the weight of two people at a time. Also, it is night time and nothing is visible. They have just one torch with them.

Now P takes one minute to cross the bridge, Q takes two minutes to cross, R takes five minutes to cross and S takes ten minutes to cross.

The bridge will collapse in seventeen minutes. How will they be able to cross the bridge before it collapses?

Asked by Neha on 01 Apr 2024

Spot 5 differences in two Christmas tree below:

Christmas Tree

Asked by Neha on 06 Jul 2021


It is raining today at 11:59 am. What is the probability of sunny weather after 72 hours?

Asked by Neha on 21 Jan 2024

These types of puzzles are known as charades. What you have to do is find two words that are referred to in the first stanza and the second stanza and put them together to form the third word in the third stanza.

Just for example, if my first refers to 'off' and my second refers to 'ice', then my whole will be office.

My first is present - future's past -
A time in which your lot is cast.

My second is my first of space
Defining people's present place.

My whole describes a lack of site -
A place without length, breadth, or height.

Asked by Neha on 08 Feb 2026

Henry has been caught stealing cattle and is brought into town for justice. The judge is his ex-wife Gretchen, who wants to show him some sympathy, but the law calls for two shots to be taken at Henry from close range. To make things a little better for Henry, Gretchen tells him she will place two bullets into a six-chambered revolver in successive order. She will spin the chamber, close it, and take one shot. If Henry is still alive, she will then either take another shot, or spin the chamber again before shooting.

Henry is a bit incredulous that his ex-wife would carry out the punishment, and a bit sad that she was always such a rule follower. He steels himself as Gretchen loads the chambers, spins the revolver, and pulls the trigger. Whew! It was blank. Then Gretchen asks, 'Do you want me to pull the trigger again, or should I spin the chamber a second time before pulling the trigger?'

What should Henry choose?

Asked by Neha on 16 Mar 2026


How will you measure 15 minutes using two hourglasses of 7 minutes and 11 minutes respectively?

Asked by Neha on 07 Sep 2023

A Car is crossing a bridge 2 miles long. The bridge can only hold 10000 lbs, which is the exact weight of the car. The Car makes it half way across the bridge and stops. A bird lands on the car. Does the bridge collapse? Explain.

Asked by Neha on 31 May 2024

Irene killed hundreds of people mercilessly and yet the police were not able to put her behind the bars. Why?

Asked by Neha on 05 Feb 2024


Which digit occurred maximum times between the number 1 and 1000?

Asked by Neha on 13 Oct 2025

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the great depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment.