Grocery Store

Question

Albert goes to the grocery store to buy fruit. There are seven different varieties of fruit, and Albert is determined to buy no more than one variety. Hoe many different orders can he place? It is a confusing question. No more than one variety? He can place 7 orders in this case. Wrong logic maybe?

Answer 1

Jomo said: Yes, I believe the answer. He looks at each of the 7 variety of fruits and one by one he says yes or no. Yes means he takes exactly 1 of that fruit and no means he doesn't take any of those fruits. Basically he is writing down 7 letters only from Y (for yes) and N (for no). For example N N Y Y N N Y means that he will only buy (one!) from the 3rd, 4th and 7th fruit. You can write down a string of seven letters using only Y and N in 2^7 = 128 different ways. Depending on whether or not you can buy 0 fruits you might get 127 different ways. Click to expand... ok but that's not what the question says. What you describe is "he will buy no more than one of a given variety" What OP posted is "he will buy no more than one variety"

Answer 2

Yes, I believe the answer. He looks at each of the 7 variety of fruits and one by one he says yes or no. Yes means he takes exactly 1 of that fruit and no means he doesn't take any of those fruits. Basically he is writing down 7 letters only from Y (for yes) and N (for no). For example N N Y Y N N Y means that he will only buy (one!) from the 3rd, 4th and 7th fruit. You can write down a string of seven letters using only Y and N in 2^7 = 128 different ways. Depending on whether or not you can buy 0 fruits you might get 127 different ways.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, he can place 127 orders. I would even agree with 128 orders if you would like to count ordering nothing is an order.

Answer 4

As CaptainBlack already pointed out, Albert is determined to buy no more than one variety means that he buys one variety or none. The question is whether or not, as romsek pointed, buying no fruit is considered an order.

Answer 5

romsek said: Hrm.. Is ordering no fruit considered an order? "A true Zen saying, 'nothing is what I want'" - Frank Zappa, The Bebop Tango Click to expand... "no more than one variety" is close to my shopping for fruit, and I have often bought no fruit because none of the available fruit met my requirements.

Answer 6

CaptainBlack said: Ambiguous question, "Albert goes to the grocery store to buy fruit" does not mean that he has to buy any, so "no more than one variety" may mean one or none. Click to expand... Hrm.. Is ordering no fruit considered an order? "A true Zen saying, 'nothing is what I want'" - Frank Zappa, The Bebop Tango

Answer 7

george357 said: Albert goes to the grocery store to buy fruit. There are seven different varieties of fruit, and Albert is determined to buy no more than one variety. Hoe many different orders can he place? It is a confusing question. No more than one variety? He can place 7 orders in this case. Wrong logic maybe? Click to expand... Ambiguous question, "Albert goes to the grocery store to buy fruit" does not mean that he has to buy any, so "no more than one variety" may mean one or none.

Answer 8

He goes to the store where there are 7 types of fruit and he can only choose 1. What does that suggest to you? Sounds suspiciously like 7 Choose 1, i.e. 7C1=7

Answer 9

george357 said: Albert goes to the grocery store to buy fruit. There are seven different varieties of fruit, and Albert is determined to buy no more than one variety. Hoe many different orders can he place? It is a confusing question. No more than one variety? He can place 7 orders in this case. Wrong logic maybe? Click to expand... Does it really matter that he's only going to pick one? What's wrong about the logic? -Dan