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Brain Teaser from my boss

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gnarnia.
Posts: 1346 - Karma: 55
So my boss came in my office this morning and asked me a question and he wants me to have an answer tomorrow. He's big into "outside the box" thinking so I'd like to impress him on this one, and I have no idea how to answer it. +k for the help

In the 1980s, Microsoft used to ask employees this question on their application. What is the best and most efficient way on how to accurately guess how many names are in a New York City phone book? The pages are not numbered. Also remember that this is the 80s so the internet is not an option. Please help! Thanks
Jan 22 2013 4:13PM
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RimJobber
Posts: 3313 - Karma: 10,058
Count how many start with A and multiply by 26?
Jan 22 2013 4:15PM
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KZA
Posts: 3304 - Karma: 301
1. Find out how many pages are in a given unit, example 100 pages per Inch. Multiply by total height.
2. Find out how many names per page.
3. Multiply.
Jan 22 2013 4:19PM
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KingTaco
Posts: 2510 - Karma: 2,824
population census
Jan 22 2013 4:19PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,264
easy. count them.


but seriously: measure the thickness of the phone book. measure thickness of 1 page, count the number of names on 1 page, do the math.

1 phone book page should be about 3 1/1000 of an inch
Jan 22 2013 4:19PM
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theBearJew
Posts: 10951 - Karma: 15,633
This. That sounds like the easiest and most intelligent way to solve the problem.
Jan 22 2013 4:20PM
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max...
Posts: 1379 - Karma: 801
1. tear out single page at random.
2. count names in one column
3. multiply that number by number of columns on that page (front and back)
4. weigh the page
5. rip off front and back cover of the phonebook and as much of the heavy paper and glue on the seam
6. weigh the phonebook
7. divide weight of phonebook by weight of a single page
8. multiply number of individual names on a page (found in step 3) by the number you found in step 7

not a very accurate way, but pretty efficient. you could compromise efficiency by counting full pages, and coming up with an average of a sample of pages (say 10 pages), as well as taking more care in removing heavy components of the phonebook and pages in the phonebook that don't contain names. that answer should be more accurate but more time consuming
Jan 22 2013 4:22PM
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Anti_Steeze
Posts: 1465 - Karma: 81
if you know how thick 1 piece of paper is you can measure the thickness of the book and figure out how many pages are in the book, then count 1 page of names and multiply by the number of pages?

Of course I googled how thick a piece of paper is but im sure back in the day there was still a way to figure out how thick 1 sheet of paper is
Jan 22 2013 4:22PM
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Caucasian_Asian
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 1,665
Call Ma Bell and ask them?
Jan 22 2013 4:23PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,264
it's called a caliper.
Jan 22 2013 4:25PM
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Anathema
Posts: 21048 - Karma: 5,061

make sure that whatever your answer is  you multiply it by two, because everybody has a first name and last name.

Jan 22 2013 4:28PM
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Anathema
Posts: 21048 - Karma: 5,061
or you could just be a total smart-ass and say "all of them"
Jan 22 2013 4:29PM
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Skavengers303
Posts: 964 - Karma: 192
that's what i was going to say
Jan 22 2013 4:34PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,264
good thing you didn't. census is a terrible way since not everyone has a listed phone number, and usually there is only 1 number per household and there is no way of telling how many people are in each household. I guess you could find the stat one average # of people per household, but that's just getting really inaccurate.
Jan 22 2013 4:36PM
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I_Am_Mod
Posts: 13214 - Karma: 3,753
well on the phonebook itself is probably a consumers hotline or a name of someone who works there so just give them a call and ask how many names are in their telephone book....
Jan 22 2013 4:40PM
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Puns
Posts: 2052 - Karma: 429
was just about to say this

I wonder if it would work; maybe try it tonight with a phone book you have?
Jan 22 2013 4:43PM
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MNS
Posts: 5386 - Karma: 3,241
Does this include duplicate names? Like would two people with the last name "Reynolds" count as two or one name(s)?
Jan 22 2013 4:48PM
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turducken
Posts: 749 - Karma: 601
Well a name correlates to a number right? So if you work out how many possible phone number combinations?

I dunno.

It does say think outside the box, so it probably won't be some math equation.
Jan 22 2013 4:50PM
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Puns
Posts: 2052 - Karma: 429
how old are you? not going to lie you seem like a mysterious hero to me and I wouldn't be surprised if you were a sick nasty hacktivist
Jan 22 2013 4:55PM
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Chompo.
Posts: 4952 - Karma: 88
Whatever you answer, you should ask him this question afterwards.

What's once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?
Jan 22 2013 5:02PM
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churchill
Posts: 131 - Karma: 17
He's probably not five years old so wouldn't be very impressed
Jan 22 2013 5:08PM
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churchill
Posts: 131 - Karma: 17
He's probably not five years old so wouldn't be very impressed
Jan 22 2013 5:09PM
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Puns
Posts: 2052 - Karma: 429
they should probably just read the entire riddle scence from the hobbit together
Jan 22 2013 5:14PM
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Skavengers303
Posts: 964 - Karma: 192
m?
Jan 22 2013 5:23PM
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turducken
Posts: 749 - Karma: 601
Are you sure? Merge sort only sorts/merges elements into numerical order?
Jan 22 2013 5:41PM
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Chompo.
Posts: 4952 - Karma: 88
I have seen so many adults not get that one. I love random brain teasers like that. There are so many other ones, but that's always the first one that comes to mind for me
Jan 22 2013 5:49PM
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icon1234
Posts: 3081 - Karma: 1,475
I was literally about to type this exact procedure.

That's the fastest way I can think of.
Jan 22 2013 5:51PM
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.tony
Posts: 321 - Karma: 74
If you are looking for an estimate, say there are 70 names an average/page, haven't looked at a phone book in ages but you get the idea. Weigh a page, then the whole book. Divide total weight by 1 page. Multiply names by pages, bam. It seems like somebody also said it, but hopefully that is along the lines of the correct answer.
Jan 22 2013 6:16PM
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gnarnia.
Posts: 1346 - Karma: 55
i think the unit of measurement procedure sounds the best so far, this one's got me beat. i even tried to google an answer but came up short. thanks for the input thus far.
Jan 22 2013 7:03PM
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Bread_Fish
Posts: 760 - Karma: 71
I like the measurement idea also. Thats what I would go with.
Jan 22 2013 7:09PM
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homestar
Posts: 2124 - Karma: 4,197
It's the only way.
Jan 22 2013 7:12PM
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cool_name
Posts: 4295 - Karma: 3,131
keep splitting the book in half till you get either just one full page or 1 full page and one single sided then times that number (either 2 for the full page or 3 for the page and half) by 2 the amount of times you split the book in half that will give you a pretty close estimate of the amount of pages then times that by the number of names on each page which you could count using the same method.

the problem with a lot of the methods is that it presumes you have other supplies like a calliper or a scale



Jan 23 2013 1:21AM
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Sno.
Posts: 12155 - Karma: 6,147

good question- this is what i was going to ask.

i still don't like you though.

Jan 23 2013 1:24AM
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Fluttershy
Posts: 586 - Karma: 763
if he needs to prove how he found that he can use the equation volume=mass*density. when you get the total volume then divide it by the width of the page, then the length of the page and you will be left with the total height of one page in the phone book.
Jan 23 2013 2:02AM
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Davy.Crockett
Posts: 5373 - Karma: 323
nah man the true thickness of a piece of paper wasn't discovered until 1998
Jan 23 2013 2:05AM
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Caucasian_Asian
Posts: 2447 - Karma: 1,665
How much do the covers weigh?
And the glue the use to bind the pages?
Jan 23 2013 10:12AM
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forrealz
Posts: 13 - Karma: 173
Find a book with similar thickness to determine approx. # of pages.  Determine # of names on one page and multiply by # of pages.
Jan 23 2013 10:52AM
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Ryan.Street
Posts: 444 - Karma: 20
Find a different book that tells you how many names are in the NY phone book
Jan 23 2013 11:15AM
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uosdwiSrjewoH
Posts: 4220 - Karma: 121
ask your employee to figure it out for you by tomorrow
Jan 23 2013 11:28AM
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feihlination
Posts: 8356 - Karma: 1,084
this is one of these "show me how you think" thingies. basically, the answer is to show some reasonable way to make a quick estimation. the weighting thing is probably a tad overboard but estimating/counting one page and multiply it with the number of total pages should do the trick.

my gf was asked in an interview how many litres of fuel is consumed in one day at the munich airport. same type of thing.
Jan 23 2013 11:36AM
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_DUSTY_
Posts: 1097 - Karma: 686
I would do this but I would measure say 20 pages instead, it will be easier to measure and seem slightly more viable in my opinion.
Jan 23 2013 12:32PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,298
results?
Jan 23 2013 12:38PM
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MANDER
Posts: 4017 - Karma: 2,038
winner.
Jan 23 2013 1:01PM
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Forkstealer
Posts: 508 - Karma: 16
This assumes that the phonebook is a searchable database, which isn't a fair assumption since this is supposed to be the 1980s.


Jan 23 2013 2:55PM
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theblackrod
Posts: 2162 - Karma: 575
exactly. your boss wants to see your problem solving and logistics/train of thought in solving problems that don't have simple solutions
Jan 23 2013 3:07PM
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feihlination
Posts: 8356 - Karma: 1,084
right. and theres not a "wrong" answer really, just more or less impressive chains of reasonings.
Jan 23 2013 3:24PM
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phreshpow
Posts: 834 - Karma: 133
1. Consult a book to find the population of New York City,
2. Multiply by .75 to account for hobos and people who aren't registered
3. Voila!!!
Jan 23 2013 3:40PM
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Forkstealer
Posts: 508 - Karma: 16
Good luck calling mergesort on a physical book.
Jan 23 2013 10:20PM
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gnarnia.
Posts: 1346 - Karma: 55
to all of those wondering, the answer was either to weigh it, or to call rr donnelly, who is the printing company that prints all the phone books.
Jan 24 2013 2:51PM
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cool_name
Posts: 4295 - Karma: 3,131
i still prefer my method but calling the guy is a very clever answer but it presumes he has memorized the amount of pages/ names
Jan 25 2013 12:48AM
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