Sandy Wood
Brain Game: Beep Beep
by Sandy Wood - July 30, 2009 - 7:30 AM

bloghead_braingames.jpg

The answer to today’s Brain Game may not be as simple as it might appear. Good luck!

At the top of each hour, a digital clock lets out a very quick “beep” once every second to denote the hour. So at one o’clock, the clock beeps once. At two o’clock, it beeps twice, and so on. You note that when it’s six o’clock, it takes the device five seconds to sound all its beeps. With this in mind:

How long should it take the clock
to sound 12 beeps when it’s twelve o’clock?

Here is the SOLUTION.
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Comments (14)

  1. I can’t believe I got that without my coffee… All thanks to the Millennium discussion 10 years ago!

    posted by Kevin on 7-30-2009 at 7:47 am

  2. you totally give the answer away with your 6 o’clock example

    posted by NukeGuy on 7-30-2009 at 8:22 am

  3. Isn’t this pretty much obvious? Even without the 6 o’clock example that basically gives the whole thing away it’s pretty clear, but with the 6 o’clock thing, there’s basically no other answer.

    The only other logic I can imagine people using based on your question is “Well, if 6 beeps take 5 seconds, 12 will take 10.” — but that directly flies in the face of ‘once each second’ that’s already in question.

    posted by Jacquilynne on 7-30-2009 at 8:27 am

  4. I thought too long and too hard about this because it seemed far too easy.

    posted by Curtis on 7-30-2009 at 10:25 am

  5. Yeah, I thought there might be a trick there or something. I was thinking maybe at 12 it wouldn’t beep at all since it would consider that 0 o’clock.

    posted by Trey on 7-30-2009 at 10:36 am

  6. Although it is a small conquest in the day that looms over me, I always feel so pleased when I get one right. As always, thanks for the puzzle Sandy!

    posted by Ophelia on 7-30-2009 at 11:11 am

  7. This was far too easy even without the 6:00 clue. Always has me thinking… “what am I missing, it can’t be that simple”.

    posted by John on 7-30-2009 at 11:31 am

  8. I THINK BEEPS EVERY SECOND WOULD BE A NEW BEEP STARTS EACH SECOND. WITH THAT THE TOTAL TIME WOULD BE 11 SECONDS PLUS THE LENGTH OF THE BEEP. MY ALARM’S BEEPS ARE NEARLY 1/2 SECOND LONG. USING THE 1 SECOND BETWEEN BEEPS WOULD ADD MUCH MORE TIME. IF IT WERE A QUICK BEEP AT 1/10TH OF A SECOND IT WOULD ADD 1.2 SECONDS TO THE TOTAL TIME TO COMPLETE ALL 12 BEEPS.

    posted by G Burns on 7-30-2009 at 12:41 pm

  9. You too often stump me Sandy, and I have to admit that I often feel some smug satisfaction when I get one right, but this was WAY too easy.

    posted by B on 7-30-2009 at 12:41 pm

  10. Yeah, I don’t think we needed that 6 o’cock hint. it amde it way too easy. Although, by Thursday, I could use an easy Brain Game.

    posted by Laura on 7-30-2009 at 12:53 pm

  11. So let me get this straight — this one was too easy? :)

    posted by Sandy Wood on 7-30-2009 at 1:00 pm

  12. 11 or 23 if we are talking AM and not military time.

    posted by Matt Allcorn on 7-30-2009 at 3:45 pm

  13. Can someone please explain what value they think is added by the “far too easy” comments? ‘Cause I have to tell you, they come off as arrogant and pretentious.

    I wonder how many of these commenters consistently log in and admit when they’ve been stumped.

    Keep up the good work, Sandy. These are always a highlight of my day.

    posted by Adam on 7-30-2009 at 6:08 pm

  14. The clock would beep 12 times with 11 rests of 1 second, even with just a tiny fraction of a second per beep the answer would be >11.

    posted by SaraL on 7-30-2009 at 8:28 pm

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