More Coffee or Tea? #2

Algebra Level 3

Take 1 teaspoon of coffee from a cup of coffee and empty it into a cup of tea. Stir the tea. Take 1 teaspoon from the teacup and empty it into the coffee cup. Stir.

Is there more coffee in the teacup or tea in the coffee cup?

There's more tea in the coffee cup than coffee in the teacup. They are both equal. Reasoning by logic gives a different answer than when you assign amounts for the parameters. There's more coffee in the teacup than tea in the coffee cup.

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6 solutions

The Justist
May 4, 2014

Let's pretend the coffee and tea are particles, and with the teaspoon you take 10 particles from one cup to the other. So, if you take in the first step 10 particles of coffee to the tea, you have a lot of tea particles + the 10 coffee particles. Stir. Then you take 10 particles from the tea. If these are all tea particles, you have 10 particles of coffee in the tea and 10 particles of tea in the coffee. So they're equal. If you take 9 tea particles and 1 coffee particle, 9 coffee particles will remain in the tea and 9 tea particles will be in the coffee. Still equal. This will remain for all other cases, and someone can comment a formula by this, but this was the easiest and most understandable way to express my solution :P

Let there be 10x coffee in the coffee cup and 10y tea in the tea cup

After transfer 1 : 9 x 9x and 10 y + x 10y+x

After transfer 2 : 9 x + 1 11 ( 10 y + x ) 9x+\frac{1}{11}(10y+x) and 10 11 ( 10 y + x ) \frac{10}{11}(10y+x)

Note that both y in coffee cup and x in tea cup are equal.

I got it wrong anyway... Didn't think that tea cup had more :)

Chandan Sankar P.S. - 7 years, 1 month ago

To be honest let's just say that since both volumes in each cup remains the SAME and are EQUAL, then obviously there has to be the same amount of tea in the coffee cup as the amount of coffee in the tea cup, since no coffee or tea was externally introduced throughout the procedure.

David Goh - 7 years, 1 month ago

Write a comment or ask a question... but in question they have given that "one teaspoon from teacup " but not one teaspoon of tea from teacup :(

Niranchana Gopi - 7 years, 1 month ago

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@Ayan Bhuyan the teaspoon can only hold 10 particles, and also for @Rishabh Goyal the teaspoon is full, which means only 10 particles of each substance are transferred with the spoons.

@Kevin Patel : Because you had it wrong? :P

@Niranchana Gopi good one.

The Justist - 7 years, 1 month ago

Thats...the nice way to solve hehehe

Pitbox Twain - 6 years, 10 months ago

no but cofee is more dense so more particles will come in as compared to tea

Rishabh Goyal - 7 years, 1 month ago

Answers: coffee should be more.

Kevin Patel - 7 years, 1 month ago

I thought the same but won't the density of the tea change even if by a small amount, which makes it impossible to actualy say how many particles you take from the cup of tea? It may be 11 or 12..

Ayan Bhuyan - 7 years, 1 month ago

Now I got it! Thank you for the explanation

Vitor da Silva - 7 years, 1 month ago

nice explanation

Joaquin Frago - 7 years, 1 month ago

well

Integral hassan raza - 7 years, 1 month ago

well explained..

Apoorv Lokhande - 7 years, 1 month ago

Oh my God! You are from Leiden. (Okay, this is not connected to your solution.)

Astro Enthusiast - 6 years, 10 months ago
Daniel Liu
May 3, 2014

Let the amount of coffee in the cup of tea be x x . Thus, we have x x units of coffee missing from the cup of coffee. Since the amount of liquid in each cup is the same, we must have that the x x missing units was replaced by tea. Thus, there is the same amount of coffee and tea in the tea and coffee cups.

In other words, what coffee that isn't in the coffee cup must be in the tea cup, and what tea not in the tea cup is in the coffee cup; since the amount of liquid in the two cups before and after the exchange is the same, the amount of coffee replaced by tea is the same as the amount of tea replaced by coffee.

I thought that while putting 1 teaspoon of tea in the coffee cup, there might have been a very small amount of coffee with tea......... which made my answer wrong

Aman Bansal - 7 years, 1 month ago

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It doesn't matter how much coffee will come with the teaspoon of tea. Even if the teaspoon from the tea to the coffee consists entirely out of coffee, the answer would still be "They are both equal" (as then there would be no tea in the coffee and no coffee in the tea).

Tim Vermeulen - 7 years, 1 month ago

i was imagined that as well

Kerwen Villanueva - 7 years, 1 month ago

But you stir it? So there will be dilution. How sure are we that when you get teaspoon from the teacup with coffee beforehand will be pure tea only? Am i wrong in understanding the problem? Thanks

Lexter Natividad - 7 years, 1 month ago

The initial amounts of coffee and tea does not have to be equal. Does this change your thinking?

Guiseppi Butel - 7 years, 1 month ago

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No. It does not matter whether the total amount in each cup is different, the change in amount after the transfers is the same (that is, zero). My reasoning is still sound.

Daniel Liu - 7 years, 1 month ago

coffee should be more in tea

Mohan Raj - 7 years, 1 month ago
Guiseppi Butel
May 2, 2014

Let x be the volume of a teaspoon. Let y be the volume of coffee that was returned to the coffee cup. Then x-y represents the amount of coffee in the teacup and x-y also represents the amount of tea placed into the coffee cup.

but when you pick the tea with the spoon, you are also picking a small volume of the coffee that was added before.

Vitor da Silva - 7 years, 1 month ago

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I agree. Then what is your answer?

Guiseppi Butel - 7 years, 1 month ago

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I have answered "There's more coffee in the teacup than tea in the coffee cup" but I don't believe it anymore. I think we can't actually be sure if there's more coffee in the teacup or they have the same amounts. A matter of probability perhaps?

Vitor da Silva - 7 years, 1 month ago

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@Vitor da Silva No probability matter here.

And also the initial amounts do not affect the answer.

Consider 2 containers with 1000 cm^3 of black marbles and 500 cm^3 of white marbles (marbles of equal sizes) and the transfer apparatus which can hold 100 cm^2 of marbles.

Are there more black marbles in the container of white marbles or white marbles in the container of black marbles?

Guiseppi Butel - 7 years, 1 month ago

The wording is very specific. It says a teaspoon of the tea, not of the solution of tea and coffee.

Zaid Baig - 7 years, 1 month ago

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How about "Take 1 teaspoon of liquid from the teacup and empty it into the coffee cup". Does this make any difference in your reasoning? I didn't intend to specify only tea in the 2nd transfer.

Guiseppi Butel - 7 years, 1 month ago

no- it says "take one teaspoon from the teacup"- meaning tea and coffee in the teacup

Andy Singh - 6 years, 11 months ago

But you stir it? So there will be dilution. How sure are we that when you get teaspoon from the teacup with coffee beforehand will be pure tea only? Am i wrong in understanding the problem? Thanks

Lexter Natividad - 7 years, 1 month ago
U Z
Sep 25, 2014

let us suppose volume of milk is same in both therefore after the activity volume of milk in both cups will remain same therefore both are equal

Eric Icicicicic
May 9, 2014

Why don't you think the volume of a spoon is the same?

Whatever the density, the volumes you transferred are the same.

Eric Icicicicic - 7 years, 1 month ago
Arjun Chotaliya
May 4, 2014

so simple one to another another to one are always equal

But the one coming back wasn't pure coffee!

Guiseppi Butel - 7 years, 1 month ago

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even though it wasn't pure coffee , some amount of coffee is also present which add to the amount of coffee in the coffee cup.

I think this is the most stupid question I have ever seen.

Rama Devi - 6 years ago

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Rami, What is your answer then?

Guiseppi Butel - 6 years ago

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@Guiseppi Butel The answer is there is more coffee in the tea cup than the amount of tea present in the coffee cup.

Rama Devi - 6 years ago

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@Rama Devi Sorry about misspelling your name, Rama, but I believe that your answer is incorrect. Could you substantiate your belief?

Guiseppi Butel - 6 years ago

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@Guiseppi Butel Yes.My answer is right because the liquid in the spoon that contains some amount of coffee.Therefore it adds to the amount of coffee in the tea cup.

Rama Devi - 6 years ago

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@Rama Devi How could the "some amount of coffee" in the spoon which is emptied into the coffee cup "adds to the amount of coffee in the tea cup."? Explain please!

Do you mean "adds to the amount of coffee in the coffee cup"?.

Guiseppi Butel - 6 years ago

@Guiseppi Butel And by the way I am Rama and not Rami

Rama Devi - 6 years ago

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