Some simple math/logic puzzles

I've been doing a couple math puzzles here and there and thought I'd add a story to these puzzles because...why not? Everything is more fun with a story!

These are some simple logic puzzles encountered by a pirate when he visits a strange and exotic island...

So far I've posted puzzle number 1! You can read it on the 'Pirate Adventures with Math' page that links to this blog.

Is coffee good for your health?

“I’m going to cut down on the coffee,” resolves a coffee drinker who may have an addiction problem. Caffeine sometimes lends coffee a negative spin. The withdrawal effects of a caffeine addiction can be pretty bad: headaches, anxiety, mood swings, and nausea. On the other hand, too much coffee at once can make you jittery and on-edge and increase your heart rate. People talk about the “post-caffeine crash". For the first couple hours you’re speeding through your work, and then the energy is gone and you want to keel over. From personal experience, drinking coffee before you sail out on a small boat will make you spew it back out again (apparently it’s from the acids in the coffee).

But many recent studies report the health benefits of coffee. According to these studies coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, Parkinson’s, and coronary heart disease to some extent or another. Other studies show that coffee can boost athletic performance and may possibly increase your lifespan. There always seems to be a new study popping up to report some health factoid like:

• Coffee drinkers with a modest intake, two to four cups per day, had a 20 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those drinking less than two cups or more than four cups.

Okay?! So tomorrow I can wake up, drink three cups of joe, and tell myself, “This daily ritual is making me less susceptible to heart disease!”

Or can I?