self Maths Puzzle

When they started off on the great annual picnic every wagon in town was pressed into service.

Half way to the picnic ground ten wagons broke down, so it was necessary for each of the remaining wagons to carry one more person.

When they started for home it was discovered that fifteen more wagons were out of commission, so on the return trip there were three persons more in each wagon than when they started out in the morning.

Now who can tell how many people attended the great annual picnic?

Read Solution (Total 1)

There must have been 900 picnickers who would be seated 9 to a wagon if there were 100 vehicles, or 10 to a wagon after 10 of the wagons had broken.

When they started for home with 75 wagons, it was necessary for 12 persons to ride in each wagon (3 more than the 9 per wagon in the morning).
12 years agoHelpfull: Yes(1) No(0)

self Other Question

Here is a puzzle known as the Covent Garden Problem, which appeared in London half a century ago, accompanied by the somewhat surprising assertion that it had mystified the best mathematicians of England:

Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones had equal number of apples but Mrs. Jones had larger fruits and was selling hers at the rate of two for a penny, while Mrs. Smith sold three of hers for a penny.

Mrs. Smith was for some reason called away and asked Mrs. Jones to dispose of her stock. Upon accepting the responsibility of disposing her friend's stock, Mrs. Jones mixed them together and sold them of at the rate of five apples for two pence.

When Mrs. Smith returned the next day the apples had all been disposed of, but when they came to divide the proceeds they found that they were just seven pence short, and it is this shortage in the apple or financial market which has disturbed the mathematical equilibrium for such a long period.

Supposing that they divided the money equally, each taking one-half, the problem is to tell just how much money Mrs. Jones lost by the unfortunate partnership?

t appears that an ingenious or eccentric teacher being desirous of bringing together a number of older pupils into a class he was forming, offered to give a prize each day to the side of boys or girls whose combined ages would prove to be the greatest.

Well, on the first day there was only one boy and one girl in attendance, and, as the boy's age was just twice that of the girl's, the first day's prize went to the boy.

The next day the girl brought her sister to school, and it was found that their combined ages were just twice that of the boy, so the two girls divided the prize.

When school opened the next day, however, the boy had recruited one of his brothers, and it was found that the combined ages of the two boys were exactly twice as much as the ages of the two girls, so the boys carried off the honors of that day and divided the prizes between them.

The battle waxed warm and on the fourth day the two girls appeared accompanied by their elder sister; so it was then the combined ages of the three girls against the two boys, and the girls won off course, once more bringing their ages up to just twice that of the boys'. The struggle went on until the class was filled up, but as our problem does not need to go further than this point, to tell the age of that first boy, provided that the last young lady joined the class on her twenty-first birthday. Now, guess the first boy's age.