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        riddles >> easy >> Watermelons.
        
(Message started by: rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 9:26am)

Title: Watermelons.
Post by rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 9:26am

Watermelons.

A total of 100 kilograms of just harvested watermelons contained 99% water. While in transit to a store these watermelons (uniformly) lost just 1% of their water content.

What was the total weight of the watermelons upon arrival?

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by jollytall on Jan 8^th, 2015, 11:03am

Is it really the question? Or did they loose 1 pp?

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 11:19am

Yes, that is the real question.

The watermelons lost 1% of their water content.

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by towr on Jan 8^th, 2015, 11:27am

Now I'm confused.

Is this like the cucumber question (https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=riddles_easy;action=display;num=1053552316) where before it's [hide]99% water[/hide] and after [hide]98% water[/hide]?
Or is it [hide]100kg*99%=99kg of water[/hide] before and [hide]99kg - 1% = 89.01kg water[/hide] after.

The way the question is phrased I'd suspect it's the later. [hide]The water content was 99kg and they lost 1% of that[/hide]. So then it's now [hide]99.01 kg[/hide], and otherwise [hide]50kg[/hide].

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 11:57am

I see. Before posting this puzzle I have searched the forum for "watermelon weight" in "easy" and nothing came up. I figured it is safe to post. Apparently not. This is a duplicate and the "cucumber" puzzle is the original.

Delete this one, towr.

(redPEPPER in the "cucumber" puzzle got it - the intended answer is [hide]50 kilograms since the amount of dry substance did not change but percentage-wise went from 1% to 2% so 1kg of dry substance is now one fiftieth of the total weight or 50 kg[/hide]).

Sorry for a poor duplicate search attempt.

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by jollytall on Jan 8^th, 2015, 12:11pm

So it was not the real question :-)

If it lost 1% of the water content (as you said) then it is still more than 99 Kg.
On the other hand if it lost 1 pp (percentage point), i.e. from 99% water content it went down to 98%, then it is only 50Kg.

I usually ask the question: Would you like to eat a bit old watermelon, the water content of which went down from the initial 99% to 98%?

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 12:26pm

I see your point, jollytall. Your wording is better. I should have said:

...lost some amount of water which now comprises 98% of total weight ...

But now it's not much of a puzzle ...

Title: Re: Watermelons.
Post by rloginunix on Jan 8^th, 2015, 6:49pm

Poor Russian to English translation on my part. I am taking the blame for this one.

I live my professional life by the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) so, simplifying and reconciling the proper wording with the intended answer:

Consisting of 99% water at harvest time a watermelon weighed in at 10 kilograms. By the purchase time, due to the loss of water via evaporation, the same watermelon consisted of 98% water. How much did this watermelon weigh when purchased?

(boy, wording problems is harder than solving them)