Birbal was jester, counsellor, and fool to the great Moghul emperor, Akbar.
The villagers loved to talk of Birbal's wisdom and cleverness,
and the emperor loved to try to outsmart him.
One day Akbar (emperor) drew a line across the floor.
"Birbal," he ordered, "you must make this line shorter, but you cannot erase any bit of it."
Everyone present thought the emperor had finally outsmarted Birbal.
It was clearly an impossible task.
Yet within moments the emperor and everyone else present had to agree that Birbal had made the line shorter without erasing any of it.
How could this be?
People are waiting in line to board a 100-seat aeroplane. Steve is the first person in the line. He gets on the plane but suddenly can't remember what his seat number is, so he picks a seat at random. After that, each person who gets on the plane sits in their assigned seat if it's available, otherwise, they will choose an open seat at random to sit in. The flight is full and you are last in line. What is the probability that you get to sit in your assigned seat?
Suppose that you are trapped on the surface of a frozen lake. The surface is so smooth and ideal that there is no friction at all. You cant make any grip on the ice and no wind is blowing to help you out. You have just a mobile phone with you which has got no reception disabling you to call for help.
How will you plan your escape before you freeze to death on the frozen lake?
Mr. Buttons was all set to go to the village of Buttonland to meet his friend. So, he packed his bags and left for the village at 5 in the morning. Upon travelling on a road for miles, he came across a point where the road diverged into two. He was confused on which road to take. He gazed around and he saw two owls sitting on a branch. He thought he could ask for directions for the village from the two owls. So he went to the tree. There he saw a sign which read, "One owl always lies, and one is always truthful. They both fly away if you ask them more than 1 question."
Mr. Buttons was caught in the dilemma of what to ask? And from which owl to ask, since he only had one question. What should Mr. Buttons ask?
In a school, there are four subjects. Seventy percent of students study English, seventy five percent of students study Science, eighty five percent of students study Mathematics and eighty percent of students study Spanish.
Can you calculate the percentage of students that study all four subjects?