When it comes to the probability puzzle, Jenner is a classic in a bunch of single counterfeit currency reals. Jennifer Lou, the teacher for Ted-Ed, has created a special brain design. You have been imprisoned for criticizing the tax laws of an empire’s greatest mathematician and dictator. The opportunity for your freedom comes when one of the 12 governors is accused of paying taxes with counterfeit currency. Your job is to find out which one is fake, whether it is lighter or heavier than the other.
Unfortunately, the emperor is not a patient person and quite a cheap person. So you’ve only got three attempts to weigh the coins to execute a scale, a marker and a counterfeit. Can you do it? We don’t want to give you any splurges but just a little hint. The marker is more important than you first thought! Good luck!
You are currently blindfolded at the king’s command, but as the greatest mathematician in the kingdom you have been given the opportunity to free yourself: if you can detect a counterfeit coin, a counterfeit coin in a group of twelve identical looks, you can gain your freedom. Can you solve counterfeit currency puzzles? Take a break before publishing the solution and don’t try to solve the problem! Then read more about this ted ed lesson Jennifer Lou argues:
The counterfeit currency puzzle originates from the field of discount mathematics, where regular decisions are made from the results of previous observations. This version of the classic puzzle involves 12 coins but popular variants may consist of 12 marbles or balls. The appealing part of this puzzle is the ease with which we can reduce or increase its complexity. A simple swap of a few key words greatly changes the difficulty of the problem.
To simplify the problem, for example, we can reduce the total number of coins to 9. To further simplify, we can reveal whether the counterfeit is light or light or heavy, as shown here. Start with 39 coins and four weights for a tougher version of the problem. Watch more puzzle videos like this: Matchstick triangle puzzle and can you solve the river crossing puzzle?
