"Hey! If I were to add 6 to 13 I would get 7!", said Patrick slowly as he blew a stream of suspiciously maroon smoke out through his left nostril while calmly stabbing a funny-looking cigarette into an upturned potty.
"Dude.... That is awesome!" giggled Frank.
Provided that Patrick is not tripping, how does his statement make sense?
6 Answers
Patrick has:
An extremely alkali solution (something bleach-like) of pH 13
If he adds the correct amount of a moderately acidic solution (say, coffee or urine) of pH 6
He'll get:
A neutral solution of pH 7
And Frank saying, "You really do have a plan! Yeah science!"
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Okay, well how about
Base 5031
If we work with this, then
$6_{5031} + 13_{5031} = 19_{5031} = 5040_{10} = 7!$
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$\begingroup$ It might be better to show that the entire equation is valid in base 5031, since $(7_{5031})! === (7_{10})!$ $\endgroup$– March HoFeb 25, 2016 at 2:13
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$\begingroup$ Because they are obviously equivalent (with 7 representable in both bases), I found it unnecessary to explicitly mention. $\endgroup$ Feb 25, 2016 at 13:50
This is
base 12 clock arithmetic. If you start with 6 o'clock and add 13 hours you get 7 o'clock.
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7$\begingroup$ As far as i understand this, he is adding 6 to 13 and not 13 to 6... There can't be a 13 as augend in a base12 clock arithmetic $\endgroup$– Wa KaiFeb 24, 2016 at 14:07
It's a bit of a stretch but it might be that
they are filling baggies with carefully measured amounts of... oregano. Perhaps because they and many of their friends are chefs.
Patrick is announcing that
as the thirteenth baggie has only a single ounce of oregano...
If [he] were to add six to thirteen, [he] would get seven
Certainly he is not tripping. His mastery of the subjunctive tense shows that he is of clear mind.
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1$\begingroup$ Who buys their spices in seven-ounce bags? $\endgroup$ Feb 24, 2016 at 14:28
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$\begingroup$ In my youth some of my friends were fond of and oregano-like substance that they bought by the ounce in baggies. $\endgroup$ Feb 25, 2016 at 12:19
Well, they both have the...
munchies, and they are looking at a take-away menu from their local Chinese.
Patrick noticed that
No. 6 on the menu is Shrimp, No. 13 on the menu is Fried Rice, and No. 7 is Shrimp Fried Rice. So he's quite right, if you add 6 to 13 you get 7.
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1$\begingroup$ Another example of question being too board? However, hmm....shrimps.... upvote! $\endgroup$– AlexFeb 24, 2016 at 20:28
I'm stealing Tom's answer =) :
it's 13:00 pm, adding 6 hrs will result in 19:00, which is 7 o'clock
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3$\begingroup$ "one should not steal"...that's why another one has to steal his answer too. :p $\endgroup$– manshuFeb 24, 2016 at 15:36
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1$\begingroup$ @manshu I was editing my answer from "steal" to "borrow" when I see your comment, and now I stopped editing $\endgroup$– AlexFeb 24, 2016 at 15:39
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5$\begingroup$ there's no such thing as 13:00 pm. 1:00 pm is 1300 hours, but it is considered incorrect to use both 24-hour time and am/pm designations. $\endgroup$– VynceFeb 24, 2016 at 20:40
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3$\begingroup$ A self-admitted stolen answer should not be the accepted answer, @Ben. $\endgroup$– XynarizFeb 24, 2016 at 23:18