Finding the bag of faulty coins in one weighing
Question
You have ten bags of coins. Genuine coins weigh g each, but every coin in exactly one bag is faulty and weighs g away from g (either heavier or lighter). Using a digital scale that shows exact weight, how can you find the faulty bag with just one weighing?
Short answer
Take coins from bag for and weigh all together. Genuine coins would weigh g, so the reading differs from by exactly grams, where is the faulty bag's number; the sign also tells you heavier or lighter.
Adapted from Zhou, A Practical Guide to Quantitative Finance Interviews, sec. 2.5 Series Summation, 'Counterfeit coins I', p.18; question and answer rewritten by SelfMadeQuant.com.
See the hint and the full worked solution in the question bank (free account).
Open the worked solutionLessons behind this question
- Sample Spaces, Events, and the Probability Axioms
- Conditional Probability, Total Probability, and Bayes' Rule
Start with a free lesson: Probability Fundamentals is part of a free topic. Create a free account, no card needed, to read it in full with worked solutions.
Read it free