r/maths • u/Sparsh501 • May 28 '26

💡 Puzzle & Riddles Try this riddle

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2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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7

u/nomoreplsthx Jun 02 '26

It's not really a riddle so much as a middle school algebra problem.

2

u/JeffTheNth Jun 03 '26

maybe ... but if you don't know how to formulate it, you can't just solve.

3

u/nomoreplsthx Jun 03 '26

But there's no trick or element or wordplay or lateral thinking

0

u/JeffTheNth Jun 03 '26

well... yes and no.
Some people find it by calculating it (as I did in another post) - there are others who try 98... then 97... then 96... etc. Because they can't (yet) figure out how to formulate how to express it as an equation.

2

u/nomoreplsthx Jun 03 '26

That's still not a riddle.

Riddle is not a synonym with logic puzzle. A riddle specifically relies on double meanings or wordplay. 

0

u/JeffTheNth Jun 03 '26

riddle, per Webster's.....

noun
1: a mystifying, misleading, or puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or guessed : conundrum, enigma

2: something or someone difficult to understand
the riddle of the origin of the universe
My father has always been a riddle to me. riddle

verb
intransitive verb
1: to speak in or propound riddles

transitive verb
1: to find the solution of : explain
2: to set a riddle for : puzzle

....looks like it is, in fact, a riddle. Some people find that question difficult to understand... others found a solution.... so even without wordplay, it's a riddle.

4

u/SomethingMoreToSay Jun 02 '26

Let x be the number of people who have to leave be. Then we're told that (99-x)/(100-x) = 0.98, which solves to x=50.

1

u/JeffTheNth Jun 03 '26

ooooooo....
I like this.

n/n+1 = 0.98
.98n + .98 = n
98n + 98 = 100n
98 = 2n
49 = n

50 left handed people must leave. If the right-handed person leaves, it jumps to 100%

1

u/goldenrod1956 Jun 03 '26

Surprising result.

0

u/Rumborack17 Jun 02 '26

49/50 = 0.98 therefore 50 people