The simple riddle that 50% of Harvard students get wrong 

Why did you have to say "Most Harvard students don't get this right..." Because now there are a bunch of 9 year olds thinking that they're gods and mathematical geniuses..

i failed ... does that mean I will get into harvard?

The clickbait title that over 50% will click on.

Ok, I got the question right. Where's my acceptance letter for Harvard?

For those who are second-guessing themselves: 2) Five minutes. 3) 47 days.

So, long story short, they got cocky and answered the question too fast without thinking about it.

Me: *looks at title* "doesn't that just mean the other half get it right"

I answered all of them correct, bring me my Harvard acceptance letter XD.

so now I'm smarter than half of the people in Harvard?

ANSWERS: If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets? 5 MINUTES In a lake there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take to cover half the lake? 47 DAYS

The answer for question 2 and 3 are 5 minutes and 47 days respectively.

Damn, I got it right, but after a lot of time haha... my first choice was Hogwarts anyway.

You gave us literally no time to think about our answer :(

5 minutes. 47 days

1:46 *notice how chemistry actually falls back a bit*

Guys simple algebra. X + (X+1)= 1.10 2X + 1= 1.10 2x=0.10 x= 0.05

Dislike because you lied that 50% of Harvard students get wrong. Nobody who knows maths can't get it wrong

I got all of them right, can I go harvard now

SO LITERALLY HE HELPS US REALIZE HOW DUMB WE ARE -_-

Ok people, no need to brag about figuring out the right answer. These questions aren't inherently difficult at all. If you were just handed the quiz during your interview to fill it out like a questionnaire, you would be a lot more likely to get them wrong rather than if you were told beforehand that more than 50% of Oxford students got it wrong.

The reason students get simple tests like these wrong is because they are drilled to be fast and not to be thorough. Often they get confronted with exams in their school life which they can only finish if they solve the questions fast and don't take time to think about the problem.

HARVARD HERE I COME

I was actually upset when I said 5 right at the beginning and the dude was like you said 10 right? I was saying " NO THAT'S WRONG!"

Sadly, I already knew all these questions as normal trick questions. So I remembered the solution using System 1.

Implying that going to Harvard means you are intelligent.

I think the problem with the world is that most people think about politics using system 1.

I got them all right, but I have definitely seen the latter two questions before and having the questions be presented as a riddle likely puts me in system 2 thinking automatically making me more prone to think about it more. I love having random riddles pop up in my recommended videos.

(1 five cents (2 five minutes (3 day 47

My brain switched to system 2 because they said most people get this wrong. :) question 2 - 5 minutes question 3 - 47

you mean 50% get right

Just wanted to say, awesome video. Dropped on by to get some quick fact and was surprised with great content. Thanks.

NOONE CARES IF YOUR 12 YRS OLD AND GOT THIS RIGHT!!!!!!

How are you supposed to know that the ball is 5 cents?

Ball: 5 cents Bat: $1.05 Super easy question

I noticed the font trick while studying for my exams. Since I firstly write then study I tried writing the words I had a hard time learning in a different way. It really helped.

They both = $1.10 If the ball was worth $0.10 and the bat was worth $1.10 then the total price would be $1.20 Therefore the ball must be worth $0.05 and the bat must be worth $1.05 which if you used you brain would equal $1.10 ( because 0.05 + 1.05 = 1.10 )

Coincidentally there is also a bias in intelligence after watching videos such as this. Because people are more likely to critically think about their answers after just being told that most people don't.

2x+1=1.10 easy fucking algebra right there.

When I see this type of questions I automatically think: "This must be a trap, think better" I switch to Sector 2 of my brain and get the correct answer XD

thats probably the most happy ive been after answering the question right the first time

These questions were easy. If I were given these by someone, who I knew was analyzing me, I would know to slow down and easily get them right. The only way I could see myself getting these wrong is if they were buried in a test of simple questions. If all the other questions were simple, straight-forward, questions with obvious first-thought answers, and I wasn't looking for a potential "trickish" question, I might be fooled.

I hate how all these people in the comments talk about people who got these questions wrong as "retarded", "morons" and "stupid". That is not the point of these kind of tests. If you see that question about the bat and the baseball, the first thing which will pop up in your head is "10 cents!". Then some people might think "Wait ... but what if I missed someting ... let's think it through .... " Let's be honest here ... who didn't thought immediately "10 cents!". I did and I eventually answered "5 cents", but if I'm honest: this is only because the title of this video already suggests it's about a trick question, so I was extra aware. If I didn't knew anything about the test and I had to answer it within a time limit, I think I would be one of those people that answerd "10 cents!". It's just how our brains work. Our brain has a bias towards lazy (but efficient!) solutions. Which is a good thing btw, because most of our daily tasks don't need very deep thinking. So I don't see it as shocking that 50% of Harvard students got this wrong. Seeing the world in black and white, a world of intelligent people and "morons", not being honest that everyone makes mistakes like this because that's just how are brains work ... that is REALLY stupid.

Let x be the cost of bat and y be the cost of ball x + y = $1.10 (Equation 1) x - y = $1 (Equation 2) Subtract the two equations, we get: 2y = $0.10 Therefore, y = $0.05

Oh I get it now. If the ball was 10 cents, the bat would be $1.10, and the total would be $1.20 (This is before I finished)

5 minutes 47 days

2. Five minutes 3. 47 days Anyone else get that?

IVE SEEN THIS SO MANY TIMES AND I JUST NOW GOT IT

2) according to the first sentence it takes 1 machine 5 minutes to make a widget. so with 100 machines in 5 minutes would each make 1 widget equalling 100 widgets. 3) if the lily pads double in size every day then for the lake to be completely full the day before (47) the lily pads would have to have covered half the lake.

I thought it said Hogwarts not Harvard

1:45 chemestri doesnt give a fuck.

The title to this video increased my cognitive strain and is probably how I got the riddle correct

Welp time to write with my left hand (I'm right-handed)

The answer to the final questions 2: 5 minutes 3: 47 days EDIT: 3: 47 days and 1 day

Am I the only one who failed both last question, while the majority of people in the comments got it right..

When I answered the question, I didn't say 10 cents but thought about it for about a minute and got 5 cents

Answer to 2nd question : it will take 5 mins Answer to 3rd question : it will take 47 days

I hate system 2 thinking, it makes me repeat 15x20 in my head over and over again until I've wasted 10 minutes on the problem.

Answers: 2. 5 minutes 3. 47 days

These are some of the easiest questions ever and it's the middle of the night right now and i haven't gotten a proper night's sleep in a week

the sad thing is i've seen this question before and got it wrong again

so half of Harvard students aren't just good at maths?

Question 2. 5 Question 3. 47

thought process number 1 the bat is 1 dollar more than the ball with the total price being 1.10. you can think 1+2(0.10/2)since there are 2 items with an original combined cost of 0.10, before you add in the 1 dollar. number 2 the number of machines are the same, the number of widgets are the same, therefore the amount of time must be the same. the fact that all the numbers are 5 in the explanation is just to mislead you. Think of it this way, 5 machines and 5 widgets make a whole, or "1" and it takes 5 minutes to reach it. 100 machines and 100 widgets also forms a "whole" identical to the "whole" from before, thus the time to get it should be the same, 5 minutes. number 3 focus on useful information, especially "double in size" and the time in takes to cover the lake, which is 48 days. you can deduce that you have to reverse the doubling process by x, because it says "half the lake" opposed to "entire lake", you can translate "entire" and "half" into 2 and 1. what does it take to get from 2 to 1? -1 (days), -1 is x. 48-1=47.

Q2) 5 minutes Q3) 47 days - Bows deeply

Anyone else immediately get number two, then think there must be a catch, only to find out you got it right in the first place?

If you set up a simple algebra equation it's an easy question. Some people are just lazy and answer too quickly, like myself

I'm literally in vitro and got this right. Due in six weeks. Wish me luck, everyone!

5 cent. [(100+x)+x = 110]... [2x = 10]... [x = 5] 5 minutes still. you want 20x more production, and have 20x more machines. they're working together at same time. 47 days. it took 48 days to be full when doubling. so yesterday it was half as full. i paused the video, and was surprised the video didn't include the confirmation/reason.

Well I learned not to be quick in answering questions and riddles. Because I would always be wrong. The easier the question is the more I'll think about it, trying to find a trickery in it.

MY ANSWERS: 1.)5 CENTS 2.)5 MINS 3.)47 DAYS

When I see questions like these, my Admiral Akhbar complex kicks in and says “IT’S A TRAP!”

He doesn't say "exactly $1 more ", so the question could have multiple answers.

5 minutes, 47 days

I am a mechanical engineer who did not go to Harvard. I got the question right, and so did all of my mechanical engineering colleagues. Couple this observation with the statistic that less than 50% of Harvard students are majoring in the math and sciences - majors which involve regular exercise of system 2 thinking - we can make the general conclusion that the Harvard bit is just clickbait.

Asked my dad this question. He said the ball was 10 cents. I said it was 5, we argued for a good 5 minutes, and he agreed that the ball was 5.

I think the answer to the second question is that 100 machines would make 100 widgets in 5 minutes. I think the answer to the third one is that if the patch doubles in size every day, then it's covering half the lake the day before it covers the whole lake. Thus the answer is 47 days.

5 and 47. I'd like a full scholarship to a party college of my choice so I can relive poor decision-making and little to no hangovers. Thanks.

System 2 is just called "How Phoenix Wright Thinks"

A big issue with standardized tests like the SAT is that they are timed. That could also be a reason why so many people get questions like that wrong. In real life, you usually have no time limit or your time limit is days, months, or years long. For example, if I am investing stock, I can buy and sell at my own pace. I can analyze the market at my own pace and maneuver in the fashion I find most effective for me. There isn't a teacher at the end of the room yelling "10 minutes left." I may feel pressure to buy or sell but at the end of the day it's my call and I do things at my own pace. Even natural world problems allow for more time. If I'm out in the woods alone trying to survive, I typically won't have just 30 minutes to decide how I'm going to eat, 20 minutes to decide how I'm going to get water, another 30 minutes to figure out how I'll get shelter, without any ability to go back and change the last decision while I'm working on a new one. Reality doesn't work that way. The arbitrary time restrictions on these tests make the tests a lot less practical. I think standardized tests fail to account for the fact that real world problems do not always require an immediate, rash decision; rather, they rarely do. It's usually much more effective to ponder about things and think deep and hard about them before you make your decision. That's why something like impulse buying is so detrimental to anyone trying to build their wealth. Making rash decisions, as if you don't have time to wait and think about them, are much more likely to lead to negative results. Obviously, if you are hanging off of a cliff and you have 20 seconds to decide how you're going to solve this problem, these tests appear more practical. But for the most part, this isn't the case.

One would have to negotiate with the seller.The bat and ball are not being sold individually but as a "package deal" Therefore, the seller can lower or higher the price of either if the buyer, for some reason wants to buy one or the other.

What data did you use to create the title? That "50"% of "Harvard" students get it wrong.

If you did Singapore Math, this was your homework at age 10.. 😂

Font makes sense right away. Antifragile response. Same reason to restrict autopilot usage.

I wonder how long that font trick works? Will it's effect fade as you become accustomed to seeing it and need to switch to another?

I still don't understand how that ball is for 5 cents I didn't hear anything what he said the entire video I was just wondering how is the ball 5 cents

never seen something as easy as this test

My first instinct was actually to think that the ball was 5 cents... And then I broke it down to double check. Basically my brain's natural thought was "half of the remainder" for some reason.

In the intro part he is like; "you're initial respond will be $1, right?" Me; "uh, no"

I answered the first one right, should I be happy?

they should have given the answer ! I got 5 min. and 47

2nd answer I think is five minutes. Because If they're all running at one time, then it should take the same amount of time. The third one I wanted to say 24, but I remembered the size doubles. so it must be 47, because on that day it was half the size.

I got all of them wrong :/ My mind is too lazy to work But I still believe that I'm smart

2. 5 minutes 3. 47 days

College students? We got these riddle questions in elementary school once.

Meme fonts help school? I'm taking memology now

I originally thought it was 1 and 47 but after I looked over other answers I convinced myself it was 5 and 47

A for Q2 is five minutes. A for Q3 is 47 days.

5 minutes and 47 days are the answers. How are these questions for Harvard students? Even youtubers got the answers right

Does anyone have any other riddle videos or knows somewhere I can get hold of more like these ?

Problem 2 is technically a trick question. Is it one machine or several types of machines taking varying amounts of time for a widget to be made? Then we'd have no clue how long it takes because we don't know what each machine is and if they're the same.