[Math] knight and knave problem

logicpuzzle

For this question, suppose you are on the island of knights and knaves. Remember that knights always speak truth while knaves always tell a lie.
(a) Suppose you come across two of the natives. You ask this question "whether the other one is a knight?" from each of them. Will you get the same answer in each case? Justify.
(b) There are three natives A, B and C. Suppose A says "B and C are the same type". What can be inferred about the number of knights?
(c) You would like to determine whether an odd number of A, B and C is a knight. You may ask one yes/no question to any one of them. What is the question you should ask?
(d) There are two natives, A and B. Now A says, "B is a knight is the same as I am a knave". What can you determine about A and B?

i am facing problem. how to solve knight and knave problem…………………………. like i try to attempt (b) part i consider A= A is knight B and C is also same type like knight…. now i have to proof it. A is true only if and if B and C is knight so i make truth table like A bidirectional(A implies(B and C)) i found one row tRUE So i conclude that a,b and c are knight…. Now i don't the answer is correct or not

Best Answer

For part (a), the answer is yes. If the natives are both knights or both knaves, they will both answer "yes" to the question. If one of the natives is a knight and the other one is a knave, they will both answer no to the question.

For part (b), there is always an odd number of knights. If A is a knight, then the other two are both knights or both knaves, because they are the same. If A is a knave, the other two are one knight and one knave, because the knave is lying. In both cases, there is an odd number of knights.

For part (c), you can use the question in part (b). "Are the other two the same type?" Using this question, if you get yes, no matter if the one you asked is a knight or a knave, there are an odd number of knights, which answers the question. If the person says no, then there are two knights.

For part (d), B is a knave, and A could either be a knight or a knave. The statement "B is a knight is the same as I am a knave" sounds confusing. Just split the statement into two parts: "B is a knight" and "I am a knave". The words "is the same as" tells you that the true/false component of each of these is the same. If one is false, the other is false. If one is true, the other is true. Therefore, if A is a knight, both parts of the statement are false, and the middle words "is the same as" makes the statement as a whole true. If A is a knave, the true/false component of each of the statements is different. "I am a knave" must be true and "B is a knight" must be false. Therefore, A can either be a knave or a knight, and B is always a knave.

Related Question