John Adams trivia

This week’s puzzle:

Using a balance scale and four weights you must be able to balance any integer load from 1 to 40. How much should each of the four weights weigh?

Scroll to the end of the newsletter, after you attempt to solve it, for the answer.

This week we seek to learn about our second and much-underrated president, John Adams with some fun trivia.

1. John Adams was the first president to live in the White House.
2. Adams and his son John Quincy Adams are the only two of the first 12 presidents to not own slaves.
3. Adams died on the same day as Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1926 – the 50th Independence Day celebration.
4. Adams lived until the age of 90. The next president to beat his longevity record was Ronald Reagan.
5. Adams was the first of many lawyers to be president.
6. John Adams and John Quincy Adams are one of two father/son sets to be president. The others are George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
7. Adams is the first of eight presidents to graduate from Harvard. The other seven are John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
8. John Adams and Samuel Adams were cousins.
9. Adams married his third cousin, Abigail Smith.
10. Adams was a prolific writer, including a daily diary, over 1,100 love letters to his wife and writing articles for the Boston Gazette under the pen name Humphrey Ploughjogger.
11. Adams was the first ambassador to Great Britain, where he had a respectfulrelationship with King George III.
12. Adams was the principal author of the Massachusetts Constitution, the oldest constitution still in use to this day and a model for the United States Constitution.
13. Adams wanted to be referred to as “His Majesty the President” or “His Highness.” This did not go over well with some, who thought it smacked of the British Monarchy, who mocked him by referring to him as “His Rotundity,” a reference to being short and overweight.
14. There is no monument to John Adams in Washington DC nor has he ever been on U.S. paper currency or coin (except a 2007 $1 coin special issue featuring every president).

 

Solution to puzzle:

The weights should weigh the first four powers of 3: 1, 3, 9 and 27. Here is how to balance any load from 1 to 40, where x is the load.

1. x vs 1
2. x+1 vs 3
3. x vs 3
4. x vs 3+1
5. x+1+3 vs 9
6. x+3 vs 9
7. x+3 vs 9+1
8. x+1 vs 9
9. x vs 9
10. x vs 9+1
11. x+1 vs 9+3
12. x vs 9+3
13. x vs 9+3+1
14. x+1+3+9 vs 27
15. x+3+9 vs 27
16. x+3+9 vs 27+1
17. x+1+9 vs 27
18. x+9 vs 27
19. x+9 vs 27+1
20. x+9+1 vs 27+3
21. x+9 vs 27+3
22. x+9 vs. 27+3+1
23. x+3+1 vs 27
24. x+3 vs 27
25. x+3 vs 27+1
26. x+1 vs 27
27. x vs 27
28. x vs 27+1
29. x+1 vs 27+3
30. x vs 27+3
31. x vs 27+3+1
32. x+3+1 vs 27+9
33. x+3 vs 27+9
34. x+3 vs 27+9+1
35. x+1 vs 27+9
36. x vs 27+9
37. x vs 27+9+1
38. x+1 vs 27+9+3
39. x vs 27+9+3
40. x vs 27+9+3+1