Memo

Business Riddle

 

You are interested in the master degree programme "Business in Emerging Markets"? We have a riddle for you.

100 kilograms of strawberries are dried in the sun. The proportion of water is 99 % on the first day. The next day, the proportion of water is 98 %. What is the weight of the strawberries on the second day?

Answer: 50 kg
Derivation: If 100 kg consists of 99 % water, the fixed mass is 1 %, which is one kilogram. While the strawberries have lost water on the next day, the fixed mass has stayed the same. So 1 kg mass now makes up 2 % of the whole mass. There are some ways of calculating the solution now. One solution is for example: 1 kg is 2 %, so 1 % is 0.5 kg, that’s 50 kg for 100 % whole mass on the next day.

Photo: fresh, strawberries, bowl, Joanna Malinowska