Nick's Quant Interview Questions

Nick's picture


This section is on Quant Interview Questions...

- Logic puzzles, and Probability

These are some of my favourite interview questions to ask in a junior Quant interview.

They require no prior knowledge, just raw intelligence and determination.

Difficulty is out of 10

If you have questions you've been asked and you want an answer Contact ExcelExperts.com.

AttachmentSize
Triangle.xls81 KB
Nick's picture

1. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation of dice roll

What's the expectation of dice roll ?
i.e. If you were to roll a dice a million times, and calculate the average, what wld it be ?

Difficulty - 1

1. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation of dice roll

3,5

But since every face of a dice is different, maybe it will change the probability (the face with 6 holes is lighter than the one with 1 hole).

Nick's picture

dice question

3.5 is correct... It's simply the average of the numbers 1 to 6

Answer

The probability of each outcome is a constant at 1/6 and hence the expected value is:

1/6*(1+2+3+4+5+6) = 3.5

Nick's picture

2. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation of 2 dice


You roll 2 dice together and add the result.
What's the Expectation now ?

Difficulty - 1

2. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation of 2 dice

7

Nick's picture

2 dice question

7 is correct.. the expectation of 2 indepentent distributions is the sum of the expectation of each

the expectation of 2

the expectation of 2 distributions is the sum of the expectation of each
(doesnt need to be independent)

Nick's picture

3. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation 2 different dice


You have 1 red dice, and 1 blue one.
The red one goes from 1 to 6
The blue one goes from 10 to 60
You roll them both together and add the result.

What's the expectation now ?

Difficulty - 2

3. Quant Interview Questions - Expectation 2 different dice

38.5

Nick's picture

2 dice

38.5 is correct...

Expectation of 1 to 6 dice = 3.5

Expectation of 10 to 60 dice = 35

add the 2..

Dice

I had this interview question once, similar to the above:

Given that you have a six sided die, and your probably outcome to infinity is 3.5 as answered by the above, what is the most you would pay to play this game to infinity?

Nick's picture

Infinite Dice Rolls

If you mean: How much would you pay per throw assuming you get the difference between the amount on the dice, and your cost per throw..

well.. that depends 4 things:

1. Access to finance: how much you have in your bank account + what you can borrow.

2. How quickly you can throw the dice

3. How risk avarse you are

4. The opportunity cost of your time...

 

If you mean: How much would you pay for the right to play the game to infinity when you receive what's on the dice, it's just (1)

Nick

 

Nick's picture

4. Quant Interview Questions - Prove Pythagoras's theorem

Using the following diagram, Prove Pythagoras's theorem.
prove-pythagoras-theorem

Note - this is 2 squares. One large, one small, rotated and fitting inside the large one.

Difficulty - 2

Pythagoras

if c is the side of the small square c^2 is the surface of the small square. If a is the longer side of the triangle and b its short side the 4 triangles have a surface of 4*1/2*a*b=2ab.The whole big square surface is then 2ab+C^2 (4 triangles+ 1 small square)

(a+b)^2 is the surface of the large square

(a+b)^2 =a^2+b^2+2ab

 

Combining the 2 equality:

a^2+b^2+2ab= 2ab+c^2

or

a^2+b^2=C^2

Jean

Nick's picture

Pythagoras

That is correct

Nick's picture

5. Quant Interview Questions - Navigation Question

How many places in the world can walk 1 mile south, 1 mile east, 1m north and end up at the same place ?

Difficulty - 10

snowbound

an infinite number, so long as both hemispheres are in play

Nick's picture

Snowbound

y... can u define those places ?

1) The North pole 2) Close to

1) The North pole
2) Close to the south pole, so that when you walk directly east or west, the circumference of the Earth is 1 mile

Nick's picture

Walking round and round

There are more places...

 

 

3) Anywhere north of the

3) Anywhere north of the South pole where an East-West lap is an integral fraction of 1 mile. There are infinitely many of these.

Nick's picture

Around the world

Yup, that's right..

It's the north pole.. and 1 + 1/2*n*PI miles from the South pole where n tends from 1 to infinity.

None. Places can't walk !

None. Places can't walk !

Nick's picture

6. Quant Interview Questions - Dice Option Game Part 1

You have a die, and you can roll it as many times as you like. At any point, you can say “Stop”. At that point, you go home with whatever is on the die.

So if you roll a 2.. then roll again and roll a 4.. then say “Stop”, you go home with 4.

What is the profit maximising strategy, and what is the expectation of that strategy ?

Difficulty - 1

Assuming it is a standard

Assuming it is a standard die, then you keep rolling until you get a 6

The expectation is also 6

Nick's picture

Dice Question

that is correct...

 

 

Nick's picture

7. Quant Interview Questions - Dice Option Game Part 2

You have a die, and you can roll it a maximum of 3 times. At any point, you can say “Stop”. At that point, you go home with whatever is on the die.

So if you roll a 2.. then roll again and roll a 4.. then say “Stop”, you go home with 4.

What is the profit maximising strategy, and what is the expectation of that strategy ?

Difficulty - 7

7. Quant Interview Questions - Dice Option Game Part 2

The expectation are 3,5

So even if you still have a turn take the 4 and go home

Nick's picture

max of 3 rolls

nop.. this is an option pricing question

have a look at Q's 3 and 6 for a clue

if you get a 5 or a 6, stop

if you get a 5 or a 6, stop the game

EV:

(1/3)*5.5 + (2/9)*5.5 + (4/9)*3.5 == 4.61111

Nick's picture

Dice Question

close, but it's possible to do better

answer

on the third roll, your EV is 3.5, so on the second roll you'd want to stay on anything over 3.5, aka 4 5 or 6. so your EV for roll 2 is really [(3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5) + 4 + 5 + 6] = 25.5/6 = 4.25. Therefore, on roll 1, anything less than 4.25 wouldn't suffice. Thus, you'd only stay on 5 or 6.

The final EV is (4.25)x4 + 5 + 6, all divided by 6, or 28/6 = 4.666666666666666666

Nick's picture

3 dice rolls

4 2/3 is correct

Where does the +4+5+6 come from

Can you please clarify.

Why is EV 4.25 on roll 2. The EV is 3.5 for ALL rolls initially as they are independent. How can an EV of roll 2 be different to that of roll 1? And why would roll 3 have an EV less than that of roll 2

Sorry, excel VBA programmer, new to probability theory and stats.

Rolls NOT independent

Let's just do two rolls, the answer for three is just this solution repeated. The rolls are NOT independent by nature of the fact that you can choose to stop on any roll you like.

For the second roll in a two roll series, everyone agrees that the EV is 3.5. Knowing this, let's take a look at the situations when you would choose to make the first roll your only roll. You would only choose not to roll again if you got a 4, 5 or 6. Each of these rolls has a chance of 1/6. On average, half the time you'd choose to stick with your first roll, half the time you'd choose to roll again with an expectancy of 3.5. So EV for the first roll is calculated

(1/6)(4) + (1/6)(5) + (1/6)(6) + (3/6)(3.5) = 4.25

Nick's picture

8. Quant Interview Questions - Envelope Question

I have 2 envelopes. One contains an amount X, the other contains 2X.

I give you an envelope at random.

You open it, and find 10.

Do you want to keep it, or swap it for the other envelope ?

Difficulty - 8

8. Quant Interview Questions - Envelope Question

I defenitely want the other envellope.

If 10=X then the other envellope contain 20$
If 10=2X then the other envellope contain 5$

Since you gave me the envellope randomly, there is a 50/50 chance for the two outcome.

So 25/2 = 12,5$

I'm richer with 12,5 than 10$

Nick's picture

Envelope

nop, under your logic, both envelope holders have a positive expectation of a gain.

In a zero sum game, this cannot be right.

Envelope

Suppose you selected the other envelope that can contain 20 or 5. You can apply the same "logic" to this choice and you will then  decide to get the other envelope. Consequently the logic is not logic (both choices result in selecting the other envelope) and you cannot choose rationaly.

Another way to answer the question is that you have 1 piece of information X  but two unknowns: the other envelope has  x/2 or the other envelope has 2X. You need more info to make a rational choice.

 

Jean

 

Nick's picture

Envelope

correct... there's something wrong with the "logic".

This question is killing

This question is killing me!
I understand why we cannot make a decision, but also I do not understand why changing envelopes is not positiv.
This is the same as an investment of 10 euros with an expected payoff of 5 (50%) or 20(50%). I would invest the money!!

And by the way: 100% of all MBA students and professors would invest too!

Nick's picture

Probability

Only the ones who don't understand probability...

; - >

Would switch

I would switch

If x=10 then 2x=20 ... you stand to gain 10 = 20 total

If 2x=10 then x=5 ... you stand to lose 5 = 5 total

Greater gain than loss

Could end up with a total of 20 with positive switch, or minimum of 5 with a negative switch

Similar to dice problem?

If you have outcomes as follows :

5, 10 = EV 7.5 (LOSE IF SWITCH)

10, 20 = EV 15 (WIN IF SWITCH)

Similar to Monty Hall

Well... from my point of view the pb is very similar to Monty Hall pb.

2X is pair with P=100%

X could be pair or not P=50%

You have a new information and you make a new choice with this new information. The new choice can't be independant, only conditional.

If you get 10 in the envelop, clearly the probability is higher that it is 2X rather than X. So, the expected return should below 10.

Not sure, but I would say P=2/3 that it is 2X. The expected return would be E = 2/3*10 +1/3*5 = 25/3 ~ 8.33 < 10

Envelope

I don't think I understand correctly...
If each case is equally likely then the expected value of the combined envelopes is:
0.5*(5+10)+0.5*(10+20)=22.5
If you always swap then the other person is guaranteed 10 therefore your expectation is 12.5

OR
Your expectation is 0.5*5+0.5*20=12.5 if you swap or 10 if you don't. Why is it not obvious to swap?

Nick's picture

9. Quant Interview Questions - Game Show - Monty Hall

This question is sometimes known as the Monty Hall question, and catches a lot of people out if they don't understand conditional probability.

You are in a game show.

The host has 3 doors, and behind one of the doors, there is a prize.

The host knows where the prize is.

The host asks you to choose a door.

You pick one.

He then flips open one of the other doors, and says:
“The Prize is not behind this one. Do you want to stick with your original choice of door, or swap ?”

What do you do and why ?

Difficulty - 6

You Swap The probabilty of

You Swap

The probabilty of winning the fisrt time is 1/3.

When you know that one door does not hide the price the probability for the door you have not choosen is now 1/2, which is better that you first choice of 1/3

 

Jean

Nick's picture

Game show

you do indeed swap... correct

i think with the swap, the

i think with the swap, the odds of winning are actually 2/3, not 1/2. if you pick either of the incorrect doors to begin, then a swap will win you the prize, whereas the 1/3 chance you pick the right door on first attempt is the only time you'd lose with a swap.

Nick's picture

swap

This is correct

Nick's picture

10. Quant Interview Questions - Smarties Probability

You have 2 jars and 10 smarties – 5 orange, 5 yellow

How can you arrange the smarties such that if a jar were to be picked at random and a smarties were to be picked from that jar at random, the probability of picking an orange smartie is maximised.

Each smartie must be in a jar.

Difficulty - 5

smartie pants

all the yellows on one jar, one orange alone, and 4 oranges in with the yellows.

Nick's picture

Nice one

Yep.. well done.

; - >

Nick's picture

11. Quant Interview Questions - Sum of Numbers


What’s the sum of numbers 1 to 100 ?

Difficulty - 3

You have 50 pairs of 101

You have 50 pairs of 101 (1+100, 2+99, 3+98, etc.) so the answer is 50*101 = 5050

Nick's picture

sum of numbers

Yep, that's right...

Part 2 of this question is:

Can you derive a generic formula for the sum of n numbers?

Yes, it is an arithmetic

Yes, it is an arithmetic progression. This takes me back to my A-levels!

Sn = n(2a + (n-1)d)/2

Sn = sum of n terms
a=first term
d=difference between terms (1 in this case)

The proof is simple and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arithmetic_progression

Nick's picture

arithmetic progression

yep.. nice one.. It is indeed simple a-level maths, but amazing how many people forget that.

if n is even, 1+2+…+n =

if n is even,
1+2+…+n = (n/2)*(n+1)

if n is odd,
1+2+…+n= ((n-1)/2)*(n+1)+((n+1)/2)

sum of n numbers

Let S= 1+2+....+n.

Again S = n+(n-1)+(n-2)+...3+2+1

Add these two sums term-wise to get 2S=(n+1)+(n+1)+...+(n+1) (these are n terms)

this implies 2S = n(n+1), implies S = n(n+1)/2.

sum of numbers 1 to 100

sum = n(n+1)/2..here n=100
so sum = 100(100+1)/2 =100*101/2= 5050...

Nick's picture

12. Quant Interview Questions - Measuring Jugs

You have 2 measuring jugs and some water. One holds 3 pints, the other holds 5 pints. How do you measure 4 pints ?

Difficulty - 2

watch die hard (3)

watch die hard (3)

Nick's picture

Water measuring

; - >

fill the 3-p jug and move to

fill the 3-p jug and move to the 5-p jug
fill the 3-p again, and move 2 pints to the 5-p jug
empty the 5-p jug
move the remaining 1 pint in the 3-p jug to the 5-p jug
fill the 3-p jug and move to 5-p jug

------
the point is to measure a one pint first~

Nick's picture

mearsuring

Yep, well done

perhaps more efficiently

fill 5p
pour 5p into 3p (leaving 2 pints in the 5p)
empty 3p
transfer 5p contents (2 pints) to 3p
fill 5p
pour 1 pint from the 5p to the 3p (filling the 3p)
leaving 4 pints in the 5p

12. Quant Interview Questions - Measuring Jugs

You fill the 3 pints jug and poor it in the 5 pints jug twice.
The 5 pints is now full and you have 1 pint remaining in the 3 pints.
Trow the 5 pints away.
Put the remaining pint in the 5 pints.
Fill the 3 pints again and put it in the 5 pints. Here you are with 4 pints

Nick's picture

measuring jugs

u've been watching Die hard 3

; - >

Water Jugs

Fill up the 3 pints, empty the 3 pints into the 5 pints. Fill up the 3 pints again, and top off the 5 pints, leaving 1 pint in the 3 pint jug.
Empty the 5 pint jug, pour the remainder 1 pint in the 3 pint jug, into the 5 pint jug (this leaves 1 pint in the 5 pint jug).
Fill the 3 pint jug and pour it into the 5 pint jug.

Now you have 4 pints in the 5 pint jug

Nick's picture

13. Quant Interview Questions - Balance Scales

You have some balance scales and 9 marbles.
8 Marbles are the same weight, 1 is heavier.

What's the minimum amount of times you need to put marbles on the scales in order to guarantee working out which marble is heavier.

Difficulty - 1

Two, because you know that

Two, because you know that the one awry marble is heavier.

Divide the 9 balls into 3 sets of 3. Weigh three balls against three balls. If it tips either way, you know which side is heavier, or if they balance, the wrong ball must be in the third set of 3. Either way, it results in you having it narrowed down to three.

Just do that again, applying the same logic to 1 ball vs 1 ball.

Nick's picture

Marbles

Yup

Nick's picture

14. Quant Interview Questions - Matchstick game


You have matchsticks laid out as below:
matchstick-game

2 players play the game.
A player has to take away at least 1 matchstick from a single column to play their go.
They can take as many matchsticks as they want from a single column on their go.
Play then alternates until all the matchsticks are gone.
The player to take the last matchstick LOSES the game.

Question: Is there a first mover advantage ? What’s the optimal strategy ?

Difficulty - 11

This is a great pub game especially if u know the answer.
; - >

Yes, you remove all seven

Yes, you remove all seven matchsticks in the fourth column and you will always win.

Given the complexity of this game, the way to deduce the answer is to reduce it to its simplest form and then add more complexity. So, starting with a game with one matchstick and one column it is clear that you do not want to start first, as doing so always results in loss.

Moving onto the two column game, it is clear playing first carries an advantage, you just remove the second column of three matchsticks on your first go and you win.

The three column game still has few enough possibilities that you can work through all of them, if you do so you discover that you will always lose if the second player plays an optimal strategy.

This then brings us to the answer, since you can force your opponent to play the three column game simply by removing the fourth column on your first go.

Nick's picture

Matchstick game

nop...

Removing all 7 will result in losing the game if the opponent is playing optimally.

First person always loses for

First person always loses for sure. Optimal play is to start by picking a single one from any of the rows. To jump ahead, the next optimal play for your opponent (we are P1) would be to pick another single from any column not already picked from, until you got to a (0,2,4,6) arrangement. At that point, any move you make will give your opponent a winning move, which is explained below.

It's a really long explanation, so I'll be intentionally "brief", but there are a few endgames to achieve. Using form (1,3,5,7) to designate 4 columns, the two true endgames are if, after you move, you can get to (2,2) or (1,2,3).

Given this, there are 2 ways to get there.

1. matching - if, after your move, everything is paired up i.e. (3,3) or (1,3,3,1) or (4,4), the you win. You can, from this point on, just copy your opponent until either you can get to a (2,2) or make a winning move.
2. (1,2k,2k+1) - i.e. creating a (1,4,5) in this case. You can copy moves until you get to a (1,2,3), or, if the opponent crosses out the single, drop into the matching strategy.

I left out a whole lot of logic, but its worth a thought.

And to the admin, a decent game is with two players, to have one player draw the game, and the other gets to pick who goes first. Especially at a pub.

Nick's picture

Matchsticks

close, but I don't agree with your starting comments...

take all but one in first

take all but one in first column. Opponent has to take top one. take all but one in second column. Opponent has to take top one. take all 3 in third. Opponent loses!

Nick's picture

there'a a lot more to it than

there'a a lot more to it than that

wow!

that's a tough one! i needed to print out a pretty substantial list of winning/losing boards to see the pattern. i hope i have it right, now, though. seems you ought to look at the base 2 representation, no? if the bit-sum of each bit is 0 (assign each column the number of sticks in base-2), you have a losing board - otherwise you have a winning board. not too hard to show that any move changes this property, and that given any configuration without this property it seems you can make it so with a single move to hand the other player back a losing board, which gives you a winning strategy (as long as you can turn numbers into base-2 reasonably well in your head!).

that said, i guess that's a losing board?

Nick's picture

15. Quant Interview Questions - Navigation question part 2

Followon from Navigation question part 1

How does the set of solutions evolve as the radius of the world tends from 0 to infinity ?

Difficulty - 7

Difficulty

this deserves a 10, I've no real idea of the answer

navigation

The set of solutions evolve from infinity to zero.

When radius = 0 (very small) any point is the desired point, as radius increases, the locus of desired points moves towards the poles. When radius = infinity, poles dont exist. Just flat surface, so 0 desired points.

Nick's picture

16. Quant Interview Questions - Rope Burn


You have 2 ropes of varying thickness, and some matches.

You know that if you light one end of either rope, it will burn to the other end in exactly an hour.

How can you measure 45 minutes ?

Difficulty - 4

answer?

1) cut the first rope in half.
2) burn the second rope from both ends, at the point where the fire meets 30 mins would have past.
3) once the 30mins have past, burn the second half rope from both ends, at the point where the fire meets 15 mins would have past.

?

Nick's picture

Rope Burning Question

nop.. cutting a rope in half does not help you because it's varying thickness so the 2 pieces ur left with could burn in 5 mins and 55 mins...

lay the ropes closely

lay the ropes closely parallel... stagger them so the end of one rope is near the midpoint of the other rope, and vice versa

burn the opposite ends

when the flames are on the line exactly perpendicular to the ropes, it's been 45 min

?

Nick's picture

ropes

mid points mean nothing...

t+0:00 light both ends of one

t+0:00 light both ends of one rope, light one end of the second rope

t+0:30 first rope finishes burning. light the other end of the second rope

t+0:45 second rope stops burning.

Nick's picture

ropes

that is correct

More detail re first rope?

I think you need to explain in more detail why the first rope will finish burning at t+0:30.

Nick's picture

17. Quant Interview Questions - River crossing

It’s night time... you have 4 people, a torch, an old broken bridge over a ravine, and a pack of hungry bankers approaching looking to invest your money in CDO's.

The bridge can only take 2 people at a time, and it’s too dangerous to cross without the torch.

The people can cross the bridge at varying speeds:
Person 1 takes 1 minute to cross
Person 2 takes 2 minutes to cross
Person 3 takes 5 minutes to cross
Person 4 takes 10 minutes to cross

Question – How do you get all 4 people safely across the bridge in the quickest time ?

Difficulty - 7

solution

Person 1 and person 2 cross: 2 minutes
Person 1 goes back: 1 minute
Person 5 and 10 cross: 10 minutes
Person 2 goes back: 2minutes
Person 2 and 1 cross: 2minutes
= 17 minutes

Nick's picture

Crossing

That's right..

most people don't think of sending 5 and 10 together...

 

I think its more that most

I think its more that most people don't think of sending person 2 back after person 3 and 4 cross over.

Nick's picture

18. Quant Interview Questions - 1 litre of Water


This is my all time favourite question..

You are in a bar with your best friend, Bob.
You have 1 litre of water to drink between you.
You’re really thirsty, and drink half a litre, then give the water to Bob.
He drinks half of what’s left, and gives it back to you.
You drink half of what’s left, and give it back to him.
... you continue in the same way until there is a drop left.

Question: How much do you drink, and how much does he drink ?

Difficulty - 6

simple

Bob always drinks half of what you drink. Let amount Bob drinks = B, Let amount you drink = Y:
B + Y = 1
1/2B = Y

So B gets 1/3 and you get 2/3

Nick's picture

Drinking Question

Yup..

Simple when you spot the short cut..

Most people go straight to an infinite sum of series, then guess the formula incorrectly or come out with 3/4 1/4.

I have heard it all !

 

the infinite sum of series

the infinite sum of series also gets 2/3 if my calculation is correct?

mine: 1/2(1-(1/4)^n) / (1-1/4) = 2/3, when n->+inf

Nick's picture

infinite sum

ur formula isn't the infinite sum formula..

18. Quant Interview Questions - 1 litre of Water

This one look hard but is easy

If you drink 500ml and he drink 250ml, then that's 2/3 for you 1/3 for him.

This ratio won't change for the rest of the liter

125/62.5
31.5/15.625

But hey!! What's the point of drinking water in a bar!

Nick's picture

drinking

Very good point RE the bar...

The first part of the question I wld normally ask: What's ur favourite drink?... then proceed appropriately putting u in a bar / cafe depending on ur drink preference.

1 Liter of water

X = Bob Volume

2x+X=1

3X=1

X=0.33

You is 0.67

 

Jean

 

Nick's picture

19. Quant Interview Questions - Balance Scales Part 2

Followon from the first Balance Scales question.

You now have 12 marbles
- 11 weigh the same
- one is different

What's the minimum amount of weighings needed to find the different one AND work out whether it's heavier or lighter.

Difficulty - 10

4 weighings 1st

4 weighings

1st weighing:
split the marbles into 3 groups of 4. put any two groups on scales

2nd weighing:
- if the original weighing is balanced, take one group off, put 3rd group on, which contains the bad marble. note whether or not the marble is heavier or lighter based on whether the group is lighter or heavier.
- if the original weighing is unbalanced, take the "heavier" group off, put 3rd group on. if balanced now, the group you took off contains the bad marble, and it's heavier. if still unbalanced, the original "lighter" group from the first weighing contains the bad marble, and it's lighter.

3rd weighing:
split the bad group into pairs and weigh. find out which pair has the bad marble.

4th weighing:
split the bad pair into single marbles and weigh. locate the bad marble.

Nick's picture

marbles

nop.. there's a better way

Balance scales

3 weighings
key
l = light (or a potentially light set)
h = heavy
u = unknown

12u marbles

weighing 1 4u v 4u reserve 4u

1.1 level
8g 4u marbles

1.2 tipped
4l, 4h, 4g marbles

weighing 2
1.1 weigh 3u v 3g

1.1.1 level 11g 1u
1.1.2 tipped unknown on light side 9g 3l
1.1.3 tipped unknown on heavy side 9g 3h

1.2 split 4l = 1l + 3l, split 4h = 1h + 3h, split 4g = 1g + 3g
weigh 1l + 3h v 1h + 3g
outcomes
1.2.1 level 3l 9g
1.2.2 same direction, 1l, 1h, 10g
1.2.3 switched 3h 9g

weighing 3
1.1.1 weigh 1u v 1g
1.1.1.1 1l 11g
1.1.1.2 ih 11g

1.1.2 weigh 1l v 1l
1.1.2.1 level have 11g and 1l
1.1.2.2 tips so have 1l 11g

1.1.3 weigh 1h v 1h - same as for the light weighings we
have
1.1.3.1 level have 11g and 1h
1.1.3.2 tips so have 1h 11g

1.2.1 1l v 1l
1.2.1.1 level have 11g and 1l
1.2.1.2 tips so have 1l 11g

1.2.2 1l v 1g
1.2.2.1 level 1h 11g
1.2.2.2 tips 1l 11g

1.2.3 1h v 1h
1.2.3.1 level 1h 11g
1.2.3.2 tips 1h 11g

in each case we know the false and if it is light or heavy

Nick's picture

Balance

gr8 answer.. well done

Nick's picture

20. Quant Interview Questions - Angle between Hands of a Clock

What's the angle between the hands of a clock at 2:45 ?

Difficulty - 1

RE : 20. Quant Interview Questions - Angle between Hands Clock

360/12=30
So there is 30 degree per hour (or per 5 minutes)

Between 45 and 2 there is 5 hours, so 5*30=150 degree

or 360-150=210 degree by the other side

Nick's picture

clock

nop

CLOCK

There are 360/12 =30 degrees per hour,when the minute handle is on 45 the hour handle is has moved from 30*3/4 or is 30/4=7.5 degree from Three OClock angle is 180+7.5=187.5

Nick's picture

Angle between clock hands

Yup

Your math is right, but the

Your math is right, but the answer should be 172.5 (the smaller angle on the clock vs. 187.5)

 172,5

 172,5

Nick's picture

21. Quant Interview Questions - Coins on table game


2 Players take turns to place coins flat on a round table.
Losing player is the one who places his coin overlapping one already placed.

Question: Is there a first mover advantage ? What's the optimum strategy ?

Difficulty - 6

you go first. place the coin

you go first. place the coin in the middle. From then on, mimic the second players move on the opposite side of the table.

not that simple

the simplest answer is "it depends" - depends on the radius of the coin and the radius of the table. assumption: all coins are identical.

Define "placing a coin" = coin has to be completely inside the table AND it cannot overlap on an already placed coin.
Define Nmax as the max number of coins that can be "tightly packed" on the given table.

for Nmax < 5 it is obvious. place the coin at the centre and the opponent has no move to make. so the starter is the winner.

somehow i intuitively think that Nmax cannot be 6. cant prove though.

assume Nmax = 7 (the first of the interesting cases). in this case the diameter of the table is 3 x diameter of the coins. in this case (i think) the second mover has the advantage.
the first mover only has an advantage if and only if the players are forced to place their coins in any of the possible tightly packed positions. but the problem doesnt explicitly state that this.
Case 1. Simple case
first player: centre
second player: adjescent to centre
first player: any of the other possible "tightly packed" positions.
second player: any of the other possible "tightly packed" positions.
first player: any of the other possible "tightly packed" positions.
second player: there are only two possible tightly packed positions left. it is sub optimal for the second player to choose any of the tightly packed positions because if he does so then a loss is arrured. so he will choose to put his coin in between the two tightly packed positions so as to check mate the first guy.
need to work backwards now. it might be sub optimal for the first player to start at the centre or any of the tightly packed positions.
because of the symetries it is possible to reduce the possibilities.
Can work out the other cases. But in my opinion the second player has the advantage no matter how the first player plays.
Tha Nmax = 7 is only the first of the interesting cases i think.

Nick's picture

coin

nop... previous answer was correct

Nick's picture

22. Quant Interview Questions - Dominoes On Chess Board

2 opposite corner squares of a chess board are removed.
Can you place dominoes to cover the remaining squares ?
Note - A domino is rectangle the same size as 2 squares

Difficulty - 6

Dominoes On Chess Board

No.
The opposite corners are the same color (either both black or both white). So, removing them leaves you with more squares of one color. A domino always covers black and white squares in pairs. Therefore, no arrangement of dominos can cover the entire board.

Dominoes

Correct

Nick's picture

23. Quant Interview Questions - Rubik's Cube


A 10 by 10 by 10 Rubik's Cube has all of the outer cubes fall off... How many are left ?

Difficulty - 2

a hidden duplicate

23 and 24 have same answer, ha ha.
6x64 = 384
because in a rubik's cube the interior cubes do not exist

Nick's picture

rubik's cube

Assume that the rubik's cube's interior cubes exist...

10x10x10 becomes 8x8x8 = 512

10x10x10 becomes 8x8x8 = 512

Nick's picture

24. Quant Interview Questions - Rubik's Cube 2

A 5 by 5 by 5 rubik's cube is sitting on a table.
How many of the outer cubes have exactly one side facing the air ?

Difficulty - 4

a hidden repeat

23 and 24 have same answer, ha ha.
6x9 = 54

Nick's picture

Rubik's cube

nop..
Ul kick urself when u realise the mistake...

57 cubes on a table... 5

57 cubes

on a table...

5 sides exposed = 5 * 9 cubes

also the lower "ring" minus the corners = 4 * 3 cubes

45 + 12 == 57 cubes

Nick's picture

Rubik's cube on a table

that's right... most people forget about the lower cubes.

Hakim's picture

- How did you work that out?

-

How did you work that out? top has 9,  54-9=45 not divisible by 4

 

 

Nick's picture

Rubik's cube

45 is wrong too... ; - >

Nick's picture

25. Quant Interview Questions - Stick Cut


You have a straight stick, and cut it randomly in 2 places.
What's the probability you can make a triangle out of the 3 little sticks ?

Difficulty - 7

Hakim's picture

I will increase its

I will increase its difficulty. What is the probability to make an obtuse triangle?

 

1/4

1/4

how

how

Nick's picture

Here's how to solve the

Here's how to solve the problem in Excel

- copy down the formulae, and take a look at the probability.. it will converge to 25% (1/4)

Nick's picture

26. Quant Interview Questions - Basket Ball


In order to win a prize, would you prefer to shoot 1 out of 1 basket, or 2 out of 3 ?

Difficulty - 6

It depends on how good you

It depends on how good you are at scoring baskets. If we assign a probability p, to your chance of scoring with any given shot, then clearly there are three distinct cases where p<0.5, p=0.5 and p>0.5.

This makes sense also intuitively; if you are a poor shot, you would take one go and hope you scored, if you were a good shot you would feel more confident being allowed one slip up.

If you work through the maths, you see for the two from three game:

s=score, m=miss

mmm (1-p)^3 lose
mms p(1-p)^2 lose
msm p(1-p)^2 lose
smm p(1-p)^2 lose
mss p^2(1-p) win
sms p^2(1-p) win
ssm p^2(1-p) win
sss p^3 win

we see that we need 3*p^2(1-p) + p^3 > p in order for it to be better to play the two out of three game. This is satisfied for p>0.5. For p=0.5, it makes no difference, both have an equal chance of winning. p<0.5 you are better off taking a single shot.

Nick's picture

Perfect answer

Spot on..

U nailed that one

Hakim's picture

Dont think thats accurate. If

Dont think thats accurate.

If P1 P2 P3 are the prob of score of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shots, we have the following events, also players usually focus more after missed shots

SS (and stop)  P1 ~ P2

SMS  P3 in most cases > P2

SMM  P3 in most cases > P2

MSS P2 in most cases > P1

MSM P2 in most cases > P1

MM (and stop)  P2 in most cases > P1

 

The condition for being better than one throw is if:

P2/(1-P2) * P3/(1-P3)  >=  P1/(1-P1)  which is usually most of the cases in the event of misses

So 2 out of three throws is nearly always better than one shot.

 

Hakim's picture

27. Quant Interview Questions - Biased dice

You have a "biased" dice, you do not know how many and how the sides are biased, how can you use that dice to make "fair" throws

Hakim's picture

Here is a hint:  how can you

Here is a hint:  how can you simulate a fair dice using a fair coin?

Biased Dice

To simulate a dice with a good coin

You need to throw the coins three times.

If first time is Tail

1,3,5

If Firts time is head

2,4,6

Out of the two next throws, one needs to get three equaly probable events . we can select Tail, Tail and  Head, Head  and Tail , Head  (if we get Head, Tail we ignore and replay)

THen we can say Tail,Tail is the lower of the three (either 1 or 2)

Head, HEad is the Higher: either 5 or 6

andTail ,H ead is the middle: either 3 or 4

Know we have to find a way to aplly this system to a biased dice.

One possibiilty is to toss the dice as many time as it takes to get all numbers 1,2,3,4,5,and 6 and record the number of trials N1

THen the operation is repeated if the number of time N2 is <N1 we consider we get a  tail if N2>N1 it is a head

if N1=N2 we ignore the results

THe operation is repeated until we get two other numbers

Jean

Roll the dice 6 times

Roll it six times. If the nth throw shows the highest number, n is our answer. If there is a tie, repeat.

while (true){ roll the

while (true){
roll the dice six times
if you get a permutation of (1,2,3,4,5,6) (i.e. each throw results in a different number), then return the first throw
}

not an expert in stats, but I think the proof is as follows:

the chance you get any one permutation of (1,2,3,4,5,6) is p1*p2*p3*p4*p5*p6 (where p1 - prob you get 1 in one toss, etc.., and p1+p2+p3+p4+p5+p6 = 1)
for each n in [1:6], there are 5! permutations of (1,2,3,4,5,6) with n being first.
Thus the probability of getting n from the algorithm above is (5!) * p1*p2*p3*p4*p5*p6, equal for all n in [1:6]