I'm taking a pre-screening test for a possible job which, much to my annoyance, involves lots of math. I am working through some practice tests but I need help figuring out how to solve one particular word problem:

There are 16 jellybeans in a box. 8 are red, 4 are green, 4 are blue. What is the minimum number of jellybeans that must be taken out to ensure that you have one of each color in your hand?

I am fucking baffled.

Any constructive help is appreciated. Any unconstructive help, if funny enough, will at least be smirked at.

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Zero. You already have one of each color.
edit: original wording of question altered.

13? that seems too easy though... good luck!

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

The answer is 9.

Sorry, I was wrong. The answer IS 13. Because you could technically take out all 8 of the Red, then all 4 of the blue. The 13th one would have to be the last color.

OK. So upon further review, I'm an idiot (not that it was up for review). I had figured 13 too, but when I checked the answer key, it said I was wrong. Of course, it would have helped if I checked the answer key to the test I was actually taking and not the one for a different test.

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Jellybean bigot.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

What was the answer?

So, do you know why manholes and manhole covers are round?

The answer IS 13.

Here's another one:

If 300 jellybeans cost you x dollars, how many jellybeans can you purchase for 50 cents at the same rate?

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150/x?

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Perhaps you can get Boilermaker Elaine to take the test for you, slip the test to her out the window and just make sure she brings it back to you on time?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Wouldn't it be 150/x?

300/x = rate per dollar

so 150/x = rate per half dollar.

?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

not all of them are, so...please enlighten us so i can tell you why you are wrong.

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@audioidkid

It's a question that Microsoft asks/asked potential employees...

And the biggest reason I've heard is because a round cover can't fall down a round whole...while a square one could fall down a square hole...

which is true. com-ed lids are square and require two guys with two manhole hooks to open them.

you do not want to drop a 75lb lid into an active com-ed structure....bad things. very bad things...

but, the question is flawed because not all manholes, catch basins, and inlets (the concrete structure) are round. and not all frames and grates are round. Most are...but, not all of them.

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@audioidkid

Comment regarding two guys and manhole hooks coming in 3, 2, ....

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Does your cat make too much noise? Try KITTEN MITTENS!


Charlie: Oh shit. Look at that door dude. See that door right there? That door marked 'Pirate'? You think a pirate lives in there?
Dennis: I see a door marked 'Private.'

Yep. 150/x is correct. Though I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

I spent 11 years in the tv business. I had no need for algebra...I never thought it would catch up to me....

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At no point does the question say that every manhole cover is round.

It just asks why they are, which only indicates that there are round manhole covers.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

why are tables round?

Neenah and E.J.I.W. make square structures that have a inset bar that can be removed from the frame, thus preventing a potential drop.

the question is still flawed.

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@audioidkid

Is the question "Why is the sky blue?" also flawed because it's not always blue?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

yes, it is...I actually thought of that.
not as much tho, since it is blue above the cloud cover. but isn't blue at night.

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@audioidkid

I like Jelly Bellys.

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Fuckin tests for jobs.Fuck THEM! They want you to spin a plate off your ass,next?
Bunch of jagoffs! What happened to an old fashioned interview & then hiring your sisters brother-in-law?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

What kind of job is so interested in Jelly Beans???

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Now I didn't gardiate from some fancy-pants college or anything, but according to the wording, shouldn't the answer be 3?
We're taking jellybeans OUT of a box and putting them in our hand, right? Three different colors...the minimum?

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-"God is great. Beer is good. And People are crazy!"

the key is the "ensure" you get one of each color.
you could draw three reds...

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@audioidkid

So the answer definitely isn't "North Dakota?"

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Nowhere does it say that it's a blind draw. In fact it says "taken out" which does not imply any limitations on visual assessment of the jelly beans subject to removal from the box. To "ensure" that you get one of each color, you just look at it.

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"It's not exactly a rocket surgery." D.J.

that is how I understood the question. It also should of mentioned that it was a random draw. Usually the word random and probability questions go hand in hand. I say the answer should be 3 as well