Commonly Asked Interview Puzzles and Solutions

1.Basketball shots

You have a basketball hoop and someone says that you can play one of two games.

Game1: You get one shot to make the hoop.

Game2: You get three shots and you have to make two of three shots.

If p is the probability of making a particular shot, for which values of p should you pick one game or the other?

2.Measuring Block

Assume that you have a block weighing 40 kg and have tools to divide it as you want. Now, your task is to cut that block into 4 pieces such that only using those 4 pieces and a two-way balancing pan, you can measure any weight from 1 kg to 40 kg? (You should be able to measure any weight like 1 kg, 2 kg, 3 kg up to 40 kg ).