Friday, March 26, 2010

The Truth about Math 101



Here is a problem I'll be giving my Math 101 students next week (it's so much fun messing with their heads!)

``On a fictional island known as Rayan, all inhabitants are either knights, who always tell the truth, or knaves, who always lie. Ferdinand finds himself shipwrecked on this island and meets a group of three of the inhabitants. He has heard of this island in his travels, and he knows that in order to survive he must determine who will tell him the truth. Having taken Math 101 he knows something about logic, so he begins to question the three inhabitants. (Let's call them A, B and C for the sake of simplicity!) Ferdinand asks A, ``Are you a knight or a knave?'' But Ferdinand does not hear the answer. B chimes in and says, ``The first guy said that he is a knave.'' C then shouts out, ``Don't believe B! He is lying!''

Given these statements, Ferdinand (who did quite well in Math 101, by the way), is able to figure out who is a knight and who is a knave. Now it's your turn!''

Apologies to Raymond Smullyan.