Sachinism Posted August 16, 2008 Posted August 16, 2008 Questions by Google 1. How many golf balls can fit in a school bus? 2. You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do? 3. How many piano tuners are there in the entire world? 4. In a country in which people only want boys, every family continues to have children until they have a boy. If they have a girl, they have another child. If they have a boy, they stop. What is the proportion of boys to girls in the country? 5. Describe a chicken using a programming language. Questions by Microsoft 1. You have a bucket of jelly beans. Some are red, some are blue, and some green. With your eyes closed, pick out 2 of a like color. How many do you have to grab to be sure you have 2 of the same? 2. Pairs of primes separated by a single number are called prime pairs. Examples are 17 and 19. Prove that the number between a prime pair is always divisible by 6 (assuming both numbers in the pair are greater than 6). Now prove that there are no ‘prime triples.’ 3. Imagine an analog clock set to 12 o’clock. Note that the hour and minute hands overlap. How many times each day do both the hour and minute hands overlap? How would you determine the exact times of the day that this occurs? 4. How much does a 747 weigh? 5. Imagine a disk spinning like a record player turn table. Half of the disk is black and the other is white. Assume you have an unlimited number of color sensors. How many sensors would you have to place around the disk to determine the direction the disk is spinning? Where would they be placed?
THX_1138 Posted August 17, 2008 Posted August 17, 2008 these are terribly easy... for the microsoft problems: A1) at least 2, at most 4. A2) let the smaller prime number be x, then the sequence of numbers is x, x+1, and x+2. atleast one of three consecutive numbers is divisible by 3. since x and x+2 are prime, x+1 is divisible by 3. atleast one and at most 2 of three consecutive numbers are even. since x and x+2 are prime, they are odd (only even prime number is 2), and thus, x+1 is even. hence, two factors of x+1 are 2 and 3. thus, it is divisble by 6. A3) the hour and minute hand overlap at every n:(n*5) for n=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 during every 13 hours. A4) **** do i know A5) two sensors, placed at a spacing of less than 180 degrees... the direction of the spin can be determined by which sensor detects a white section first. if the sensors are placed at 0 and 90 degrees, then if sensor at 0 degrees detects white first, the disc is spinning counterclockwise, and vise versa.
THX_1138 Posted August 17, 2008 Posted August 17, 2008 furthermore, these are not interview questions... they are topics for discussion over a perfectly cooled sud.
DomainK Posted August 17, 2008 Posted August 17, 2008 There is a book titled something like "How would you move mount Fuji?". Its a collection of trick and analytical questions from MS interviews with the correct answers. Great read.
ludhianvi Posted August 17, 2008 Posted August 17, 2008 I think the interviewer is not looking for an exact answer for questions like how many golf balls fit in a school bus,etc. The more important thing here is your approach to the problem and the logic behind it. They are looking at your problem solving skills rather than if you remember some odd facts.
Sachinism Posted August 17, 2008 Author Posted August 17, 2008 I think the interviewer is not looking for an exact answer for questions like how many golf balls fit in a school bus' date='etc. The more important thing here is your approach to the problem and the logic behind it. They are looking at your problem solving skills rather than if you remember some odd facts.[/quote'] yeh thats what it would be
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