Question

43. Can you place ten lumps of sugar in three empty cups so that

Answer 1

Answer: No.

Step-by-step explanation:

We have 10 lumps of sugar, and we want to divide them into 3 cups, in such a way that there is an odd number of lumps in each cup.

This only can happen if we have 3 odd numbers such that the addition is equal to 10.

Now 10 is an even number, remember that even numbers can be written as:

2*k

where k is an integer number.

And odd numbers can be written as:

2*n + 1

where n is an integer.

Then we have 3 odd numbers, let's call them:

(2*n + 1), (2*k + 1) and (2*p + 1).

Now let's add them:

(2*n + 1) + (2*k + 1) + (2*p + 1).

2*(n + k + p) + 1 + 1+ 1

2*(n + k + p) + 2 + 1 =

2*(n + k + p + 1) + 1.

Now, the number n + k + p + 1 is an integer number, let's call it X, then we have that the addition of the 3 odd numbers is:

2*X + 1

This is an odd number

So for any 3 odd numbers that we add together, the result will always be an odd number.

Then is impossible to add 3 odd numbers and get 10 as the result (Again, 10 is an even number).

Then is not possible to have an odd number of lumps in each cup.