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Puzzle: solve this equation!

  • Artikel

You have the following false "equation", made with six toothpicks arranged on a table in the following way:

XI = I

You have to re-establish the equality by changing the position of a single toothpick. Common-sense rules apply: you are not allowed to bend, break, or remove any toothpicks.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    Re-establish the equality? As in I need an equals sign?
    One could move the "I" in "XI" and make a != sign (in math, the = sign with a slash over it).
    Or, just make 1/1 = 1.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    Well, technically, I suppose the != (I can't remember the ASCII for a not equals sign, if there even is one...) is an equality operator.
    You could make a V = V (lopsided V's: | = |/)
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    Well, the one X would look funny. Kind of like my V's.
    I'm looking at it at 90 degrees and I can't see anything yet. I think I need to have a few more beers, that seemed to make programming better today anyhow.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    You can move the "I" in "XI" over to the other side and make it X = X.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    I know!
    Make // 1 = 1
    Then it would be a comment, so the compiler wouldn't look at it anyways.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005

    Move a toothpick above the X so that

    Sqrt of 1 = 1
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    That would be a funky sqrt sign, but it works.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    Well we know XI is 11 in roman numerals. How about moving one of the '=' to the right to make

    XI - 11 ?
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    These are all good solutions. I like it.
  • Anonymous
    March 18, 2005
    it is already true
    XI=I
    X=1
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    OK, move the I pick from XI to the right hand side and get
    X = II
    this is obviously true. why, X = 10 in binary (msdn here or what?) is 2, which is the same as II in roman encoding.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    I would go with either X = X, II = II or I/I = I
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    And there's always:

    /I != I

    Where the ! and = overlap - you take one of the picks from the X and move it over the = sign
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    I have an IQ of like...uh 30? I'm like a total moron but even I know that...

    II = II

    Roman numerals.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    oops text didnt come out right...lemme try it another way! haha X != 1 that should be more readable...
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    heck actually my typo is legal.... II = II by "changing the position" of one and tilting the other! That not a bend, break, or a remove...and I thik common sense states that changing the axis is not changing the position.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    X means 10 in Roman numeral while + also means 10 in Chinese numeral :-)
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    X is non equal to I

    So leave the number X at the right side and cross the equality sign

    the non equal sighn is when you cross the equal sign.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    Hey Adi, some of your maths related stuff has been pretty funky, I remember the stuff about Godel numbers

    Why not blog about Lax winning the Abel prize instead of silly puzzles (or both, if you feel that way inclined)?
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    Move the left I over the =, so that it reads:

    X <> I (where <> is = with a dash).

    Equation is correct then.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    OMG. The solution was already here. Sorry 'bout that.
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    >> Move the left I over the =, so that it reads: X <> I (where <> is = with a dash). Equation is correct then.

    :-)

    No, no. As mentined in the original post, you must also have the equality maintained.

    So far: 1/1=1 is a good solution. X = X is probably on the edge. (given that you don't really have an X on the right side).

    But there is yet another solution left that nobody found it out yet...
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    What about Wesner's solution of sqrt(1) = 1?
    (Move the one part of the X to make the sqrt symbol)
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    I've got it!
    X' = 1
    (x prime, the derivative of x, taken with respect to x, is one)

    Almost as good as | = |
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    Precisely!
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    The prime symbol is too short for it to be a toothpick...
  • Anonymous
    March 19, 2005
    yes, i still insist on
    X = II
    (10) = (2)
  • Anonymous
    March 21, 2005
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    March 22, 2005
    The actual answer, derivative, is less satisfying than the other creative alternatives suggested.

    Anyway, how about square root of -1 is the imaginary number:

    /-1 = I
  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2005
    Since X1 = 1, then X = 1, so X = 1 ^^ 1 (1 raised to the first power). Or you could raise X to the first power to get the same result.
  • Anonymous
    March 26, 2005
    Here's another one, sort of:
    1^x = 1
    where the 1 is moved so that x becomes its exponent in superscript. The positioning is a little off, and you could argue about 1^.5 having multiple values, for example, but otherwise it works.
  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2008
    PingBack from http://caferestaurantsblog.info/antimail-puzzle-solve-this-equation/