http://shawnmor.disqus.com/enTue, 13 Sep 2005 22:02:59 -0000http://blog.shawnlmorrissey.com/microsoft/my-microsoft-interview-questions/#comment-1171097You’re in a boat with a rock, on a fresh-water lake. You throw the rock into the lake. With respect to the land, what happens to the level of the water in the lake – goes up, goes down, stays the same? <br>There are several test cases, the boat is mired in muck before/after release(after), boat is mired in muck before(before) not after release, or the boat is floating(float) and the rock floats(floats), the rock sinks(sinks) or the rock gets mired in muck(muck).<br>So you have:<br>after/floats water level rises because more water is displaced.<br>after/sinks water level rises because more water is displaced.<br>after/muck water level rises because more water is displaced.<br>before/floats water level rises because more water is displaced.<br>before/sinks water level lowers because less water is displaced.<br>before/muck Indeterminate conclusion, need more information about the state of water displacement.<br>float/floats water level stays the same because the same amount of water is displaced.<br>float/sinks water level lowers because less water is displaced.<br>float/muck Indeterminate conclusion, need more information about the state of water displacement.<br><br>Based on an equal probability of all test cases, most likely the water will rise. (I need a $2.3 million grant from the government to finish studying this problem.:)Ken LeeTue, 13 Sep 2005 22:02:59 -0000