In Canada, contests are supposed to involve an element of skill. The lucky winner of some national contest is supposed to answer a “skill testing” question along the lines of 42*2-12 = ? (usually written so order of operations is not a factor.)
Could you run a less ethical contest with a more difficult question (What shape is at the bottom of a cube hung by a thread from one corner and dipped into a beaker of acid until have the volume of the cube dissolves…)? Does it legally have to be a grade three equation?
Canadian game shows, like “Definition”, traditionally offered prizes like $50 or dinner for two. Woo hoo!
Canadian TV has lots of American game shows, some of which have difficult questions. But you know what you’re in for when you agree to appear on Jeopardy. Why couldn’t McClown’s come with a Monopoly game with a $10 million prize that the winner is unlikely to win due to a (surprise!) difficult skill test?
In other words, a skill testing question can be as difficult as the competition holder wants to make it, but before the contest begins it must be set out how many prizes will be won and what the value of the prizes will be. The prizes must be won, so there is no benefit to making questions so difficult that the prizes are not won.
Bear in mind that the purpose of such contests is to promote businesses or products, so usually the broader the appeal, the more successful the promotion. The greater the chance of winning, the broader the appeal.
No. The edges of the hexagon pass through the centers of the six edges which are not incident on the top or bottom corners. For a unit cube, all the edges of the hexagon will be 1/sqrt(2) in length, and all the angles will be equal.
I think something that’s important to mention is that the traditional reason for the ‘skill testing question’ was not to be difficult… which is why they’re not. You can put something difficult in a promotional gimmick… but you’ll probably dissapoint and frustrate some of your customers, which is generally not good for repeat business.
As I remember it, (no cite sorry,) those 10 * 4 / 2 + 7 - 3 questions started to pop up, and continue, so that the promotions can get into a more advantageous legal classification of ‘contest’, rather than a ‘lottery’ that depends on pure chance, or something like that. They have to put a small element of skill into it. (without pissing anybody off.)
The government prohibits lotteries/games of chance except for specified purposes, such as charitiesnont-for-profits etc. Beyond this, if you want to promote your business or your product, you are prohibited from running a lottery/game of chance. You are permitted to run a game of skill (under tightly controlled regulations), so very simple skill testing questions on games of skill are as close as you can go to running a lottery/game of chance as you can get.
(without pissing anybody off.)