Top 10 Puzzle questions Asked in Data Science Interviews

Considering how profusely the organizations are becoming reliant on data, it is quite evident that data is high in demand. With such high data demand, what follows is heavy reliance on data science. This is because raw data is absolute of no use to the organizations unless it is transformed in a manner that aids in better decision making. It is exactly here that data science comes to the rescue.

As data science is one of the hottest career professions, looking for ways to get through it is quite obvious. Data science has a lot to do with critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities. This is where puzzle questions come into play. Puzzle questions serve to be an excellent medium of accessing one's critical thinking capability. Therefore, having a fair understanding of how you'd be tested on these fronts is always advised. On that note, have a look at the top 10 puzzle questions asked in data science interviews.

1. There are 5 lanes on a race track. You are asked to find out the 3 fastest leopards among the 25. In such a situation, what is the minimum number of races to be conducted in order to determine the fastest three?

2. There are 100 black balls and 100 white balls all of which are mixed up in a drawer. How many balls will you be required to take out to be sure that you have a matching pair of balls? (Note – You are to pick up the balls blindly from the drawer)

3. If there are two sand timers that show 4 minutes and 7 minutes respectively then what would be the best approach to get a time of 9 minutes using both the sand timers, at one time or one after another or in any other combination?

4. If a lion has two eyes, a tiger has two eyes, and an elephant has two eyes, how many eyes do we have?

5. In a jungle, one rabbit saw 6 elephants while going towards River. Each elephant saw that 2 monkeys are going towards the same river. Each monkey holds one tortoise in its hands. How many animals are going towards the river?

6. Two trains X and Y (80 km from each other) are running towards each other on the same track. The trains are running at a speed of 40km/hr. Meanwhile, a bird starts from train X and travels towards train Y with a constant speed of 100km/hr. As soon as it reaches train Y, it turns and starts moving toward train X. the bird does this till the two trains collide with each other. What is the total distance travelled by the bird?

7. A box has 24 pink cards and 24 yellow cards. Another box has 48 pink cards and 48 yellow cards. You want to draw two cards at random from one of the two boxes. Note that you have to draw one card at a time. In such a situation, which box has a higher probability of getting cards of the same colour and why?

8. A party was organized where everyone shook hands with everybody else. There were 66 handshakes. Find out the number of people at the party.

9. You are given two beakers – one with 4 litres capacity and the other with 5 litres capacity. You are required to pour exactly 7 litres in a bucket. With that being stated, how will you complete the task?

10. A certain number of tigers got together and decided to kill between them 999919 rabbits. Every tiger killed an equal number of rabbits. Each tiger killed more rabbits than there were tigers. How many rabbits do you think that each tigerkilled?