题面摘自 Henry E. Dudeney 公版文本;英文为古腾堡原文整理,中文为本站自译,提示、解答骨架和闲谈保留本站原创结构。
There was a great commotion in Lower Thames Street on the morning of January 12, 1887. When the early members of the staff arrived at Wapshaw's Wharf they found that the safe had been broken open, a considerable sum of money removed, and the offices left in great disorder. The night watchman was nowhere to be found, but nobody who had been acquainted with him for one moment suspected him to be guilty of the robbery. In this belief the proprietors were confirmed when, later in the day, they were informed that the poor fellow's body had been picked up by the River Police. Certain marks of violence pointed to the fact that he had been brutally attacked and thrown into the river. A watch found in his pocket had stopped, as is invariably the case in such circumstances, and this was a valuable clue to the time of the outrage. But a very stupid officer (and we invariably find one or two stupid individuals in the most intelligent bodies of men) had actually amused himself by turning the hands round and round, trying to set the watch going again. After he had been severely reprimanded for this serious indiscretion, he was asked whether he could remember the time that was indicated by the watch when found. He replied that he could not, but he recollected that the hour hand and minute hand were exactly together, one above the other, and the second hand had just passed the forty-ninth second. More than this he could not remember. What was the exact time at which the watchman's watch stopped? The watch is, of course, assumed to have been an accurate one.
There was a great commotion in Lower Thames Street on the morning of January 12, 1887. When the early members of the staff arrived at Wapshaw's Wharf they found that the safe had been broken open, a considerable sum of money removed, and the offices left in great disorder. The night watchman was nowhere to be found, but nobody who had been acquainted with him for one moment suspected him to be guilty of the robbery. In this belief the proprietors were confirmed when, later in the day, they were informed that the poor fellow's body had been picked up by the River Police.某些暴力痕迹表明他遭到残酷袭击并被扔进河里。 A watch found in his pocket had stopped, as is invariably the case in such circumstances, and this was a valuable clue to the time of the outrage. But a very stupid officer (and we invariably find one or two stupid individuals in the most intelligent bodies of men) had actually amused himself by turning the hands round and round, trying to set the watch going again. After he had been severely reprimanded for this serious indiscretion, he was asked whether he could remember the time that was indicated by the watch when found. He replied that he could not, but he recollected that the hour hand and minute hand were exactly together, one above the other, and the second hand had just passed the forty-ninth second. More than this he could not remember.值班员的手表停止的确切时间是几点?当然,这块手表被认为是准确的。
提示 1
先说出现象:哪些量会变,哪些约束不会变。
提示 2
找守恒量、相似关系、平衡条件或不变量,不急着代公式。
提示 3
把物理图景或谜题结构翻成一个最小方程组,再处理边界情况。
完整解答
解题主线是先把 Dudeney 谜题 30 的条件整理成一个稳定模型,再选择最少的变量。第一步确认约束,第二步写出关键关系,第三步检查特殊情形。这里给的是原创解法骨架;若要核对原始题面,请回到公版来源。
这类题最怕一上来套公式。先把图景或语言条件说清楚,答案通常会少绕很多路。