Grades 5-6 Video Solutions 2023-2023_1-2

Video Transcription

Question 14. Maria, Peter, Richard, and Tina were playing football in the classroom, and one of them broke a window.  When the principal asked who did it, she got the following responses. Maria, it was Peter. Peter, it was Richard. Richard, it wasn't me. Tina, it wasn't me.  Only one child was telling the truth. Who broke the window?  Let's write out all four responses by all four students. Now, let's notice that since only one of them is telling the truth,  and two of them, Richard and Tina, are saying it wasn't me, only one of them is telling the truth. So either Richard or Tina broke the window.  Now, since we know that Peter said it was Richard, if Richard was the one to break the window, Peter would be telling the truth, and Tina would be telling the truth.  So it cannot be Richard. So the answer will be B, Tina.

Video Summary

In the problem, four children give different accounts of who broke a window, but only one is telling the truth. Maria accuses Peter; Peter accuses Richard; Richard and Tina both claim innocence. Only one can be truthful, so if Richard or Tina is truthful, it eliminates their innocence. If Peter were truthful in accusing Richard, both would be truthful, contradicting that only one tells the truth. Thus, Tina must be lying, meaning she broke the window. The solution concludes that Tina is the culprit.

Keywords

children

accusations

truth

window

culprit