Outline Mathematics
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Scheherazade began: "It has reached me, O Auspicious King, that one of Ali Baba's famous forty thieves stole into Abdul's shop and robbed him of some diamonds. Fortunately, they were all recovered, and then it was determined that the thief was either Sabit, Salim, or Shamhir - all of whom were in Ali Baba's famous robber band. At the trial, each of the three accused one of the others, but Shamhir is the only one who lied. Is he necessarily guilty? "Not necessarily," replied the king. "An innocent man might lie in order to protect his friend." Is Shamhir necessarily guilty? |
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Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny
Solution
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Scheherazade began: "It has reached me, O Auspicious King, that one of Ali Baba's famous forty thieves stole into Abdul's shop and robbed him of some diamonds. Fortunately, they were all recovered, and then it was determined that the thief was either Sabit, Salim, or Shamhir - all of whom were in Ali Baba's famous robber band. At the trial, each of the three accused one of the others, but Shamhir is the only one who lied. Is he necessarily guilty? "Not necessarily," replied the king. "An innocent man might lie in order to protect his friend." Is Shamhir necessarily guilty? |
(In the applet below, click on the underlined omitted expressions. See what happens.)
Do not forget to check your solution.
References
- R. Smullyan, The Riddle of Scheherazade, Alfred A. Knopf, 1997
|Up| |Contact| |Front page| |Contents| |Store| |Algebra|
Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny
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