Can You Crack These FAANG Interview Puzzles?

Are You Smart Enough to Answer These FAANG Interview Questions?

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The Famous 8 Balls Puzzle

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Answer: Just 2 Weighings

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The 100 Prisoners & The Lightbulb

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The Strategy: Appoint a Counter

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The Egg Drop Puzzle

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Answer: Just 14 Drops!

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Bonus Puzzle: Can You Outsmart Big Data?

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Hint: Use Hashing + External Sorting

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Can You Crack These FAANG Interview Puzzles?

PART 1

Are You Smart Enough to Answer These FAANG Interview Questions?

These real tech interview puzzles have been asked at Google, Meta & Amazon. Test your brain — and swipe to solve them!

The Famous 8 Balls Puzzle

You have 8 identical balls. One’s heavier. What’s the fewest number of weighings needed to find it using a balance scale?

Answer: Just 2 Weighings

Split balls into groups: 3-3-2. Weigh 3 vs 3. Use logic to isolate the heavy ball in only 2 weighings!

The 100 Prisoners & The Lightbulb

100 prisoners. A room with 1 light bulb. They must figure out when everyone has been in. No communication allowed. How?

The Strategy: Appoint a Counter

One prisoner becomes the “counter.” Others flip the light once. When the counter sees 99 flips, he declares success.

The Egg Drop Puzzle

You’ve got 2 eggs & a 100-floor building. What’s the fewest drops needed to find the critical breaking floor?

Answer: Just 14 Drops!

Drop from floor 14, then 27, then 39… Reduce the gap each time. Worst-case? 14 drops. Clean math wins.

Bonus Puzzle: Can You Outsmart Big Data?

You have 1 billion files and only 10MB RAM. How can you find a duplicate file efficiently?

Hint: Use Hashing + External Sorting

Hash each file in chunks. Store hashes externally. Then sort + compare to find duplicates.

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