[CrackMonkey] [schoen@loyalty.org: Pill-weighing]

[Morgan J]

In article <20000213110736.G4856 at cty-alum.org>, Seth David Schoen wrote:
>
>You are a pharmacist, and [...]
>
>(1) You have n bottles of pills.  Each bottle contains an unknown number of
>pills.  The pills are supposed to be 100 mg, but one bottle is "bad": all
>the pills in that bottle are 101 mg instead.
>
>By using a scale only once, how can you immediately tell which bottle is bad?

Calculate the quantity required to produce an overdose, and
hallucinatory side effects.  Lets set this arbitrarily to ... 50g (500
pills) and lets say there are 100 pills per bottle.

If there are less than five bottles, empty *all* the pills (leaving but
one in each bottle) into the scale.  Stand in a dingy back alley with
scale and pills, and suggest to any wandering schoolchildren that you've
got "The good shit".  Use the cash (you should be able to gouge these
kids for at least $10 a pop) to buy a set of scales that works more than
once. Celebrate by buying more pills.

If there are more than five bottle, down 500 pills.  Shudder.  Read your
pharmacutical handbook again.  Realise that it's actually 5g to cause
overdose.  Panic.  Run about shouting "Oh my god, I am a chicken!".
Panic some more.  See the blinding white light and understand the true
nature of reality - use your terrible insight to answer the one
important question 'Which of these has 101mg?'?  Jump up and down in
triumph at the fact you didn't even need to use the scale *once*!

Die.

I suspect these answers are not condoned by mathematicians, or
pharmacists.

Morgan