Can you solve the passcode riddle? - Ganesh Pai
-
0:10 - 0:15In this dystopian world, your resistance
group is humanity's last hope. -
0:15 - 0:19Unfortunately, you've all been captured
by the tyrannical rulers -
0:19 - 0:24and brought to the ancient colosseum
for their deadly entertainment. -
0:24 - 0:25Before you're thrown into the dungeon,
-
0:25 - 0:29you see many numbered hallways
leading outside. -
0:29 - 0:32But each exit is blocked by
an electric barrier -
0:32 - 0:35with a combination keypad.
-
0:35 - 0:40You learn that one of you will be allowed
to try to escape by passing a challenge -
0:40 - 0:45while everyone else will be fed to
the mutant salamanders the next morning. -
0:45 - 0:49With her perfect logical reasoning,
Zara is the obvious choice. -
0:49 - 0:54You hand her a concealed audio transmitter
so that the rest of you can listen along. -
0:54 - 0:56As Zara is led away,
-
0:56 - 0:59you hear her footsteps echo
through one of the hallways, -
0:59 - 1:01then stop.
-
1:01 - 1:04A voice announces
that she must enter a code -
1:04 - 1:08consisting of three positive whole numbers
in ascending order, -
1:08 - 1:11so the second number is greater than
or equal to the first, -
1:11 - 1:15and the third is greater than
or equal to the second. -
1:15 - 1:17She may ask for up to three clues,
-
1:17 - 1:19but if she makes a wrong guess,
-
1:19 - 1:21or says anything else,
-
1:21 - 1:24she'll be thrown back into the dungeon.
-
1:24 - 1:31For the first clue, the voice says
the product of the three numbers is 36. -
1:31 - 1:33When Zara asks for the second clue,
-
1:33 - 1:35it tells her the sum of the numbers
-
1:35 - 1:40is the same as the number
of the hallway she entered. -
1:40 - 1:42There's a long silence.
-
1:42 - 1:44You're sure Zara remembers
the hallway number, -
1:44 - 1:47but there's no way for you to know it,
-
1:47 - 1:50and she can't say it outloud.
-
1:50 - 1:53If Zara could enter the passcode
at this point, she would, -
1:53 - 1:57but instead, she asks for the third clue,
-
1:57 - 2:02and the voice announces that the largest
number appears only once -
2:02 - 2:04in the combination.
-
2:04 - 2:09Moments later, the buzz of the electric
barrier stops for a few seconds, -
2:09 - 2:12and you realize that Zara has escaped.
-
2:12 - 2:15Unfortunately, her transmitter
is no longer in range, -
2:15 - 2:18so that's all the information you get.
-
2:18 - 2:20Can you find the solution?
-
2:20 - 2:27Pause on the next screen
to work out the solution. -
2:27 - 2:283
-
2:28 - 2:292
-
2:29 - 2:301
-
2:30 - 2:34You're worried about the fact that you
don't know Zara's hallway number, -
2:34 - 2:37but you decide to start
from the beginning anyways. -
2:37 - 2:41From the first clue, you work out all of
the eight possible combinations -
2:41 - 2:44that come out to a product of 36.
-
2:44 - 2:46One of these must be right,
but which one? -
2:46 - 2:48Now comes the hard part.
-
2:48 - 2:51Even though you don't know which number
you're looking for, -
2:51 - 2:56you decide to work out the sum
of each combination's three numbers. -
2:56 - 2:58That's when it hits you.
-
2:58 - 3:01All but two of the sums are unique,
-
3:01 - 3:04and if the hallway number had matched
any of these, -
3:04 - 3:07Zara would have known the correct
combination right then and there -
3:07 - 3:10without asking for the third clue.
-
3:10 - 3:12Since she did ask for the clue,
-
3:12 - 3:14the hallway number must have
matched the only sum -
3:14 - 3:17that appears more than once in the list:
-
3:17 - 3:18thirteen.
-
3:18 - 3:22But which of the two combinations
that add up to thirteen is correct: -
3:22 - 3:241,6,6,
-
3:24 - 3:25or 2,2,9?
-
3:25 - 3:28That's where the third clue comes in.
-
3:28 - 3:30Since it tells us that the largest
number must be unique, -
3:30 - 3:332,2,9 must be the code.
-
3:33 - 3:37When night falls, you and the others
escape through hallway thirteen -
3:37 - 3:40and rejoin Zara outside.
-
3:40 - 3:42You've freed yourselves through
math and logic. -
3:42 - 3:45Now it's time to free
the rest of the world.
- Title:
- Can you solve the passcode riddle? - Ganesh Pai
- Speaker:
- Ganesh Pai
- Description:
-
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/can-you-solve-the-passcode-riddle-ganesh-pai
In a dystopian world, your resistance group is humanity’s last hope. Unfortunately, you’ve all been captured by the tyrannical rulers and brought to the ancient coliseum for their deadly entertainment. Will you be able to solve the passcode riddle and get everyone out safely? Ganesh Pai shows how.
Lesson by Ganesh Pai, animation by Jun Zee Myers.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:08
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