EP 913 Here’s a fun little brainteaser that most people get wrong
This is a fun little brainteaser. It is a math problem. Before you roll your eyes, it is not really that difficult. A hammer and a nail cost $1.10. The hammer cost $1 more than the nail. How much does the nail cost? The way this question is often asked, you would be dropped right into the middle of an interview out of the blue so that you have no sense that it is common. This question can be asked of people at any professional level of experience so that it makes it that much more, shall we say, "complicated." Imagine that were talking and have been asking you a number of questions and then suddenly I say, "A hammer and a nail cost $1.10. The hammer cost $1 more than the nail. How much does the nail cost?" Most people mistakenly say that the nail costs $0.10. There's only one problem. That doesn't make the hammer cost $1 more than the nail. The correct answer is that the nail cost $0.05. Thus, the hammer is $1.05. You just have to pause for 2nd and sorted out. I'm sure there is an algebraic way of computing this. I'm not an algebra guy, but I think this is a fun little question. It can be dropped right into the middle of the interview out of the blue, making it a really fun question.
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