You are on page 1of 7

1.

Solve this cryptic equation, realizing of course that values for M


and E could be interchanged. No leading zeros are allowed.
WWW!" # $!!$%E & !"'!M
"his can be solved through syste(atic application of logic. )or
e*a(ple, cannot be equal to +, since . "hat would (a,e , but , which
is not possible.
-ere is a slow brute#force (ethod of solution that ta,es a few (inutes
on a relatively fast (achine.
"his gives the two solutions
///012 # 1111+3 && 012415
///012 # 1111+5 && 012413
-ere is another solution using Mathe(atica6s 7educe co((and.
8 faster 9but slightly (ore obscure: piece of code is the following.
)aster still using the sa(e approach 9and requiring ;5++ M< of (e(ory:.
Even faster using the sa(e approach 9that does not e*clude leading
zeros in the solution, but that can easily be weeded out at the end:.
-ere is an independent solution (ethod that uses branch#and#prune
techniques.
8nd the winner for overall fastest.
=. Write a hai,u describing possible (ethods for predicting search
traffic seasonality.
MathWorld6s search engine
see(ed slowed this May. >ndergrads
prepping for finals.
5. 1
1 1
= 1
1 = 1 1
1 1 1 = = 1
What6s the ne*t line?
51==11. "his is the @loo, and say@ sequence in which each ter( after
the first describes the previous ter(. one 1 911:A two 1s 9=1:A one =
and one 1 91=11:A one 1, one =, and two 16s 9111==1:A and so on. See
the loo, and say sequence entry on MathWorld for a co(plete write#up
and the algebraic for( of a fascinating related quantity ,nown as
'onway6s constant.4. Bou are in a (aze of twisty little passages, all ali,e. "here is a
dusty laptop here with a wea, wireless connection. "here are dull,
lifeless gno(es strolling around. What dost thou do?
8: Wander ai(lessly, bu(ping into obstacles until you are eaten by
a grue.
<: >se the laptop as a digging device to tunnel to the ne*t level.
': Clay MCo7C$ until the battery dies along with your hopes.
: >se the co(puter to (ap the nodes of the (aze and discover an
e*it path.
E: E(ail your resu(e to $oogle, tell the lead gno(e you quit and
find yourself in whole different world DsicE.
Fn general, (a,e a state diagra( . -owever, this (ethod would not
wor, in certain pathological cases such as, say, a fractal (aze. )or
an e*a(ple of this and co((entary, see Ed Cegg6s colu(n about state
diagra(s and (azes .
0. What6s bro,en with >ni*?
"heir reproductive capabilities.
-ow would you fi* it?
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
3. !n your first day at $oogle, you discover that your cubicle (ate
wrote the te*tboo, you used as a pri(ary resource in your first year
of graduate school. o you.
8: )awn obsequiously and as, if you can have an autograph.
<: Sit perfectly still and use only soft ,eystro,es to avoid
disturbing her concentration
': %eave her daily offerings of granola and English toffee fro( the
food bins.
: Guote your favorite for(ula fro( the te*tboo, and e*plain how
it6s now your (antra.
E: Show her how e*a(ple 1/b could have been solved with 54 fewer
lines of code.
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
/. Which of the following e*presses $oogle6s over#arching philosophy?
8: @F6( feeling luc,y@
<: @on6t be evil@
': @!h, F already fi*ed that@
: @Bou should never be (ore than 0+ feet fro( food@
E: 8ll of the above
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
1. -ow (any different ways can you color an icosahedron with one of
three colors on each face?
)or an asy((etric =+#sided solid, there are possible 5#colorings .
)or a sy((etric =+#sided obHect, the Colya enu(eration theore( can be
used to obtain the nu(ber of distinct colorings. -ere is a concise
Mathe(atica i(ple(entation.
What colors would you choose?
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
2. "his space left intentionally blan,. Clease fill it with so(ething
that i(proves upon e(ptiness.
)or nearly 1+,+++ i(ages of (athe(atical functions, see "he Wolfra(
)unctions Site visualization gallery .
1+. !n an infinite, two#di(ensional, rectangular lattice of 1#oh(
resistors, what is the resistance between two nodes that are a
,night6s (ove away?
"his proble( is discussed in I. 'serti6s 1222 arJiv preprint . Ft is
also discussed in "he Mathe(atica $uide<oo, for Sy(bolics, the
forthco(ing fourth volu(e in Michael "rott6s $uide<oo, series, the
first two of which were published Hust last wee, by Springer#Kerlag.
"he contents for all four $uide<oo,s, including the two not yet
published, are available on the K distributed with the first two
$uide<oo,s.
11. Ft6s =CM on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the <ay 8rea. Bou6re
(inutes fro( the Cacific !cean, redwood forest hi,ing trails and world
class cultural attractions. What do you do?
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
1=. Fn your opinion, what is the (ost beautiful (ath equation ever
derived?
"here are obviously (any candidates. "he following list gives ten of
the authors6 favorites.
1. 8rchi(edes6 recurrence for(ula . , , ,
=. Euler for(ula .
5. Euler#Mascheroni constant .
4. 7ie(ann hypothesis. and i(plies
0. $aussian integral .
3. 7a(anuHan6s pri(e product for(ula.
/. Leta#regularized product .
1. Mandelbrot set recursion.
2. <<C for(ula .
1+. 'auchy integral for(ula.
8n e*cellent paper discussing the (ost beautiful equations in physics
is aniel L. )reed(an6s @ So(e beautiful equations of (athe(atical
physics .@ Note that the physics view on beauty in equations is less
unifor( than the (athe(atical one. "o quote the
not#necessarily#standard view of theoretical physicist C.8.M. irac,
@Ft is (ore i(portant to have beauty in one6s equations than to have
the( fit e*peri(ent.@
15. Which of the following is N!" an actual interest group for(ed by
$oogle e(ployees?
8. Wo(en6s bas,etball
<. <uffy fans
'. 'ric,eteers
. Nobel winners
E. Wine club
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
14. What will be the ne*t great i(prove(ent in search technology?
Se(antic searching of (athe(atical for(ulas. See
http.MMfunctions.wolfra(.co(M8boutMourvision.ht(l for wor, currently
underway at Wolfra( 7esearch that will be (ade available in the near
future.
10. What is the opti(al size of a proHect tea(, above which additional
(e(bers do not contribute productivity equivalent to the percentage
increase in the staff size?
8: 1
<: 5
': 0
: 11
E: =4
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E
13. $iven a triangle 8<', how would you use only a co(pass and
straight edge to find a point C such that triangles 8<C, 8'C and <'C
have equal peri(eters? 98ssu(e that 8<' is constructed so that a
solution does e*ist.:
"his is the isoperi(etric point , which is at the center of the larger
Soddy circle. Ft is related to 8pollonius6 proble( . "he three tangent
circles are easy to construct. "he circle around has dia(eter , which
gives the other two circles. 8 su((ary of co(pass and straightedge
constructions for the outer Soddy circle can be found in @ 8pollonius6
Croble(. 8 Study of Solutions and "heir 'onnections@ by avid $isch
and Iason M. 7ibando.
1/. 'onsider a function which, for a given whole nu(ber n, returns the
nu(ber of ones required when writing out all nu(bers between + and n.
)or e*a(ple, f915:&3. Notice that f91:&1. What is the ne*t largest
n such that f9n:&n?
"he following Mathe(atica code co(putes the difference between Dthe
cu(ulative nu(ber of 1s in the positive integers up to nE and Dthe
value of n itselfE as n ranges fro( 1 to 0++,+++.
"he solution to the proble( is then the first position greater than
the first at which data equals +.
which are the first few ter(s of sequence 8+14//1 in the !n#%ine
Encyclopedia of Fnteger Sequences.
'hec,ing by hand confir(s that the nu(bers fro( 1 to 122211 contain a
total of 122211 1s.
11. What is the coolest hac, you6ve ever written?
While there is no @correct@ answer, a nice hac, for solving the first
proble( in the SF8M hundred#dollar, hundred#digit challenge can be
achieved by converting the li(it into the strongly divergent series.
and then using Mathe(atica6s nu(erical function Sequence%i(it to
trivially get the correct answer 9to si* digits:,
Bou (ust twea, para(eters a bit or write your own sequence li(it to
get all 1+ digits.
D!ther hac,s are left to the reader.E
12. 6"is ,nown in refined co(pany, that choosing N things out of N can
be done in ways as (any as choosing N (inus N fro( N. F pic, N, you
the re(aining.
"his si(ply states the bino(ial coefficient identity .
)ind though a cooler biHection, where you show a ,nac, uncanny, of
(a,ing your choices contain all N of (ine. !h, for pedantry. let N be
no (ore than half N.
6"is (ore proble(atic to disentangle se(antic (eaning precise fro( the
this paragraph of verbiage peculiar.
=+. What nu(ber co(es ne*t in the sequence. 1+, 2, 3+, 2+, /+, 33, ?
8: 23
<: 1+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++O
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++O
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
': Either of the above
: None of the above
"his can be loo,ed up and found to be sequence 8+0=123 in the !n#%ine
Encyclopedia of Fnteger Sequences, which gives the largest positive
integer whose English na(e has n letters. )or e*a(ple, the first few
ter(s are ten, nine, si*ty, ninety, seventy, si*ty#si*, ninety#si*,
?. 8 (ore correct sequence (ight be ten, nine, si*ty, googol,
seventy, si*ty#si*, ninety#si*, googolple*. 8nd also note,
incidentally, that the correct spelling of the (athe(atical ter( @
googol@ differs fro( the na(e of the co(pany that (ade up this
aptitude test.
"he first few can be co(puted using the Nu(berNa(e function in Eric
Weisstein6s MathWorld pac,ages.
8 (athe(atical solution could also be found by fitting a %agrange
interpolating polyno(ial to the si* ,nown ter(s and e*trapolating.
=1. Fn =2 words or fewer, describe what you would strive to acco(plish
if you wor,ed at $oogle %abs.
D"his e*ercise is left to the reader.E

You might also like