Query: How long is a billion seconds?
Response: The UK billion is 1,000,000,000 (thousand million).
There are 60 seconds in 1 minute, 60 minutes in 1 hour, 24 hours in 1 day and 365.25 days in a year.
So, in 1 year there are 60x60x24x365.25=31,557,600 seconds.
By working out 1,000,000,000 divided by 31,557,600, this gives the answer of 31.68808781 years.
So, a billion seconds is approximately 31 years, 251 days.
Can you deduce the missing numbers?
The answer will be posted on Friday, November 23rd at 12 noon GMT. Good luck!
On every birthday, Jamie's doting parents have baked him a special cake with a lit candle for every year of his current age. As part of the ritual they blow out the candles whilst others present sing "Happy Birthday" to Jamie.
Up to the present time, they have actually blown out a total of 406 lit candles. How old must be Jamie now?
Send your answers to us using the comment link below. No prizes are offered, just congratulations! But can you solve it?
The solution will be posted on Friday, November 16th at 12 noon GMT.
In each of the 4 boxes below, the top 3 numbers combine to generate the bottom number...
Can you figure out the rule (which is the same for each box) and find the missing number? There are no prizes on offer, just the satisfaction of cracking the code. It's not as easy as it looks. Happy computing!
The solution will be posted on Friday, November 9th at 12 noon GMT.
Take a look at this 'general' diagram, which illustrates the template of the original challenge question and allocates an unique letter to each number position within that template.
The formula for finding the middle number 't' from the outer numbers 'p', 'q', 'r' & 's' is given by...
t = s x q x (p - r)
The answer is therefore 8 x 4 x (14-12) = 64.
Five correct answers were received and the first in (Monday) was from GA. Well done!
Take a look at the diagram below and work out what number should replace the question mark? It's not as difficult as it looks!
Why not send us your solution, once you've cracked the logic. The answer will be posted on Friday, November 2nd at 12noon GMT.
They say that the behaviour of cows can help you forecast the weather?
A herd of cows in a field (some standing and some lying down) was observed and the following behaviour recorded...
Observation 1: When it rained, two-thirds of the cows which had been standing actually lay down, whilst three-quarters of those lying down stood up. The overall number of cows standing didn't alter, as a result.
Observation 2: When the rain stopped, one-third of the standing cows actually lay down, whilst a quarter of those lying down, stood up. After this there were now three more cows lying down rather than standing up.
How many cows were in the observed herd?
The answer will be posted on Friday October 26th at 12 noon GMT. But will you solve it first? It isn't easy.
An Accountant plays cricket for his local team every Sunday. On his arrival home after a match, his neighbour asked "How many runs did you make this week?"
As he found it difficult to answer such a direct question, he gave this obscure response...
"Although my score read backwards is nine less than twice my score, it is actually three and a half times my score halved."
How many runs did the Accountant actually score?
The answer will be posted on Friday, October 19th at 12noon GMT. Good luck!
From an ordinary pack of 52 playing cards I randomly take some Spades, Hearts and Clubs and lay them face upwards on a table.
How many cards of each suit were chosen?
The solution will be posted on Friday, October 12th at 12 noon (GMT).
Although this is a simple problem at first glance, you will definitely need to use all your powers of deduction to figure it out.
You are told that four times the number ABCD gives the answer EBEA, where each letter stands for a different single digit!
What digits do the letters A,B,C,D & E represent?
Again, no prizes on offer, but can you crack the fiendish logic required? The solution will be posted on Friday, October 5th at 12noon GMT.
Fancy a game of darts with a difference?
Here's a new type of dartboard, with only the eight numbers from 3 up to 10 (inclusive) available as scores.
The challenge is to work out how many ways you can get a total score of 20 after throwing combinations of three scoring darts.
No misses are allowed, but you can repeat a score within your combination of three darts, e.g.[6,6,8] is permissable.
However, any permutation of a winning combination should not be counted more than once, i.e. [6,8,6], [6,6,8] and [8,6,6] only count as one unique combination.
Good luck - the correct answer will be posted at 12 noon (GMT) on Friday 21st September. Will you be the first to solve it?
A hemispherical bowl of internal diameter 12 cm. is full of water and all the water is emptied into a cylindrical can of base diameter 8 cm.
How deep will the water level in the cylinder become?
Please e-mail us your solution - you can attach a scan of your handwritten version, if it's more convenient. The solution will be posted at 12 noon [GMT] on Friday, 14/09/07.
Again, no prizes on offer - just the pleasure of being first to solve it! But can you solve it?
A buyer has $3000 to spend on multi-tools. Before he can finalise the order however, their price increases by $5 each.
This means that his $3000 will now buy 20 less tools. How many had he originally planned to buy?
Please e-mail us your solution - you can attach a scan of your handwritten version, if it's more convenient. The solution will be posted at 12 noon [GMT] on 07/09/07.
Again, no prizes on offer, just the pleasure of solving it! But can you rise to the challenge?
