Quiz : " Would Google hire you? 10 test questions to find out "

[steve2470]

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/0208/Would-Google-hire-you-10-test-questions-to-find-out/A-plane-flight

See how you do !

[NYC_SKP]

1. I did well!

But I have to go back and check their answers, I'm suspicious about what they SAY is the way to measure 9 minutes with a 4 minute and a 7 minute timer.

[fishwax]

4. it's right, but the way they worded it was confusing

If you start both at the same time and flip the four-minute timer when it ends then there will be one minute left on the flipped 4-minute timer when the 7-minute timer ends. So you flip the 7-minute timer when it is done and let it run for one minute (until the 4-minute timer runs out) and then flip it over to measure the 9th minute.

[dawg]

2. Hard questions.

And I dispute some of their answers.

[A Simple Game]

14. And I dispute most of the answers.

Many are based on assumption. The stack of pennies one was just plain wrong as written.

[Scuba]

20. Yep. I was assuming a very, very small room....

... not enough info for a couple.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. Well, I suspected it was a trick question, so...

At first I thought it was odd they didn't mention with or without the antenna, but...

The Empire State Building with the antenna is 1473 feet tall= 448970mm
A penny is 1.27 mm thick
so 448970 / 1.27= 353519 pennies high

A penny's volume is .360cc
so 353519*.360=981999cc = 34.68 cubic feet

That's a small closet.

(Feel free to check the math-- I didn't believe it either)

[Art_from_Ark]

28. The stack of pennies question was not difficult

How high is the Empire State Building? Let's say you go with the highest measurement (including towers) of 1454 feet. Now assume that the average height of a room, from floor to ceiling, is 8 feet. That means you would have to have approximately 182 8-foot-high stacks (1454/8) of pennies in your room. Squaring that off gives you an 8-ft-high column of 13 X 14 penny stacks. Each penny is only 3/4 inch in diameter, meaning that your column of pennies would not even be 1 foot X 1 foot at the base, meaning in turn that you would only need less than 8 cubic feet of storage space for your pennies.

[nuxvomica]

3. 5 out of 11 (POSSIBLE SPOILER)

But I contend you can't pass the chair you are sitting in.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Or the one behind you on some lifts.

[NewJeffCT]

9. you probably wouldn't pass several of them

the ones closest behind you or in front of you. I don't recall chair lifts immediately turning after you get off of them - don't they normally go on a bit more before looping back around?

[TreasonousBastard]

24. All of them I've seen have, but I haven't seen all of them.

[HopeHoops]

6. I wouldn't work for Google.

[sakabatou]

7. That airplane question is a trick question

It doesn't say headwind or tailwind.

[NewJeffCT]

10. I know

I've heard some pilots comment about how they have a strong tailwind or headwind, so they're making good/bad time.

[Art_from_Ark]

29. I hear that all the time on my trans-Pacific flights

And I've often heard that captain say "We've had a nice tailwind, so we'll be arriving in Minneapolis/Detroit/Chicago a little earlier than scheduled".

[pipi_k]

11. I thought so too...

but then, maybe I just make things more complicated than they need to be...

my questions...

what kind of plane and how high is it?

Round trip...so what? The wind could have backed off by the time the plane was headed the other way.

How fast is the wind blowing?

Got the next one right about the glass on the turntable but quit the entire "test" on the third question about figuring out minutes on two timers. I hate math and suck at it...even simple math.

[Scuba]

21. Not enough info. Is it a headwind both ways (wind direction changes)?

[Orrex]

32. I think that it means the same wind for both legs of the trip

So it's a tailwind and then a headwind, or vice versa.

[NewJeffCT]

8. ok, one I didn't understand...

There are three boxes, and one contains a valuable prize; the other two are empty. You're given your choice of a box, but you aren't told whether it contains the prize. Instead, one of the boxes you didn't pick is opened and is shown to be empty. You're allowed to keep the box you originally picked, or swap it for the other unopened box.

Why does it matter if you keep the box you have or switch to the other box?

[pipi_k]

13. Even though I suck at math

this is the way I figure it...

if there are three boxes, you have a 33% chance of getting the right one.

If you take one away, there are two, and your odds rise to 50%

So it probably wouldn't matter if you switched or not except that you have a better chance of being pissed off if you switch for the other one and there's no prize.

[Art_from_Ark]

30. Yeah, that's how I figure it

Maybe they forgot to add: "And you see the person who opened one of the boxes is snickering when he looks at your box..."

[Rochester]

15. Here is the mathematical explanation...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

[NewJeffCT]

17. wow

that is a very long explanation.

[JonLP24]

27. Makes sense once I got to the

Vos Salant's solution. When I answered the questions I pretty much figured it was 50/50 either way.

[sakabatou]

19. I don't get the full thing either. The problem was shown on Mythbusters

They showed how it's more likely you'll get the prize if you switch.

[Chan790]

38. Answer is somewhat dumb.

When you initially choose in this case, the odds are 3:1. If you keep the box in the second choice, your odds remain static from your first choice. If you change boxes, your odds improve to 2:1.

Most people over-think it to assume their choices in the second choice are 50/50 whichever box they choose and they are not.

[Mopar151]

12. I am apparently a dumbass, according to google

Fortunatley, I am much better at solving real problems.

[geardaddy]

18. Me too.

The water and syrup question? Seriously?

[Scuba]

22. Yeah, I've got a problem with that one.

[ceile]

25. I read it as how fast YOU are swimming

not what you're swimming in. Like, you're driving 20mph on dry road or through snow- your speed doesn't change just the elements...

[Art_from_Ark]

31. The exact question is:

"Can you swim faster through water or syrup?"

Considering that syrup is much more viscous than water, I would certainly be able to swim faster through water.

http://www.research-equipment.com/viscosity%20chart.html

[DFW]

16. I didn't try the test, but I'm sure they'd hire me. I have skills they need.

Even Google needs their toilet paper rolls replaced.

[ceile]

26. Those were annoying..

The first question- if the wind doesn't change direction, you're going with it one way and against it the other- should take the same amount of time...

[Orrex]

33. The hourglass answer makes no sense (spoiler)

"Let it run one minute, then flip it over again for the ninth minute."

Well, if I could just flip it at the minute mark, why wouldn't I flip the 7-minute glass once, flip it again when it's done, and then flip it again after two more minutes?


What am I not understanding?

[Denninmi]

35. I agree. I think their answer was stupid.

Their chosen solution was far too complicated.

Why not just flip the 7 minute hourglass. When it's done, 7 minutes have passed. Then, flip the 4 minute hourglass, and when it's exactly half done, 9 minutes total.

Are they assuming that it's too inaccurate to know when half of the sand has run out of the hourglass, but we're much more accurate at estimating 4ths and 7ths visually?

[NewJeffCT]

36. If you flip the 4 minute hourglass over when done the first time

it will then have 1 minute left on it (the second time through) when the 7 minute hourglass is done.

You then flip the 7 minute hourglass over.

When the 4 minute hourglass runs out a minute later, the 7 minute hourglass will have measured one minute of time on it.

Flip that 7 minute hourglass back over and when it is done, you have your 9 minutes.

You can't really accurately estimate sand in an hourglass.

[Orrex]

37. I get it, but that wasn't one of the choices

It said "flip it over after a minute" but didn't explain how to determine that minute. I agree that the double-flip of the four-minute glass is the way to do it, but when I looked for that option I didn't see it. The answer as phrased requires the applicant to know when the minute has lapsed, and if you can do that with accuracy then you don't need the hourglass to figure out when nine minutes have passed!

[Orrex]

34. Google told me not to let the door hit me in the ass

But I got a special commendation for pointing out that the 10-question quiz had 11 questions.

[rurallib]

39. I was recommended for a job at Bing!