Riddle answer consists of 244 characters and was created by TheRiddl3r
A man told his son that he would give him $1000 if he could accomplish the following task. The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do this, you will keep the $1000." When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten envelopes?
TheRiddl3r
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Detailed breakdown: [Spoilers!] The son can divide the $1000 into the ten envelopes so that he can answer any question with a definite amount of money in one or more of the envelopes. This can be done by placing money in the envelopes by employing the binary scheme. We will describe how this division is made below: 1. First envelope 2^0 = 1 dollar. 2. The second envelope contains 2^1 = 2 dollars. 3. The third envelope contains 2^2 = 4 dollars. 4. The fourth envelope contains 2^3 = 8 dollars. 5. The fifth envelope contains 2^4 = 16 dollars. 6. The sixth envelope contains 2^5 = 32 dollars. 7. The seventh envelope contains 2^6 = 64 dollars. 8. The eighth envelope contains 2^7 = 128 dollars. 9. The ninth envelope will have 2^8 = 256 dollars. 10. The tenth envelope will have 2^9 = 512 dollars. When the contents of these envelopes are added we have: 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 = 1023. Now we will be able to manage since we only had to give $1000 whereas the amount from this calculation is 1023. Since it is in binary, we can make any value up to 1000 by using these envelopes together. Here is the distribution: - Envelope 1: 1 dollar. - Envelope 2: 2 dollars. - Envelope 3: 4 dollars. - Envelope 4: 8 dollars - Envelope 5: 16 dollars. - Envelope 6: 32 dollars - Envelope 7: 64 dollars - Envelope 8: 128 dollars - Envelope 9: 256 dollars - Envelope 10: 489 dollars (to make up the total to 1000, reducing from 512 to 489) By distributing the money this way, the son can give his father any amount of money from 1 to 1000 by combining one or more of these envelopes. Here are a few examples: - For 3 dollars, he opens envelopes with 1 and 2 dollars. - For 10 dollars, he opens envelopes with 2 and 8 dollars. - For 1000 dollars, he opens all the envelopes. Thus, the son succeeds in fulfilling the task because he has arranged the contents of the envelopes so that selecting the right combination of envelopes makes it possible to assemble any requested sum.
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Envelope 1: 1 dollar Envelope 2: 2 dollars Envelope 3: 4 dollars Envelope 4: 8 dollars Envelope 5: 16 dollars Envelope 6: 32 dollars Envelope 7: 64 dollars Envelope 8: 128 dollars Envelope 9: 256 dollars Envelope 10: 512 dollars
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good riddle, has a real answer, don't give up
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