You all have been with us for long enough to know that we get a kick out of featuring questions that are challenging and mind-numbing. But it’s not just us who enjoy them – tech companies are famous for coming up with some of the world’s most competitive and challenging interview processes that include such questions all the time! That is why many rumors surround the question of what it takes to get hired at tech tycoons such as Facebook, Amazon, or Google.
As per the legend, not only do you need to ready to tell the recruiter about your recent big win or the biggest mistake that you have made or where you see yourself in the coming five years but also answer some of the most challenging math problems right there on the spot. A viral YouTube video claims that a prospective employee was presented with one such question during an Amazon job interview for the post of software engineers and developers. The question went like this:
‘A cable of 80 meters is hanging from the top of two poles that are both 50 meters off the ground. What is the distance between the two poles—to one decimal point—if the center cable is: 20 meters off the ground and 10 meters off the ground.’
As it turns out, this problem can actually be traced back to a 2010 paper that was published in the Atlantic Electronic Journal of Mathematics. You need not go through an academic journal to find out how it is solved. You can simply check out the solution that was posted by MindYourDecisions. The YouTube channel has done a marvelous job at breaking down this challenging math problem and solving it. Check out the video below and do let us know what you think of this incredible math problem that was presented during the interview at Amazon.
