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Some Order to Our Operations???

Answer: 0.  There is a match for each number in the first set of parenthesis in the second.  1/5 = 0.2, 5 = 1/0.2, 1/0.5 = 2, 0.5 = 1/2.  or you could have added  up each set of parenthesis and found that each equalled 7.7 and 7.7 - 7.7 = 0

The Seating Chart
The desks of a classroom are arranged in rows.   Each row has the same number of desks.  Tom sits in the second row from the front, which is the fourth row from the back.  His seat is the third from the left side and the fifth from the right side.  How many desks are in the room?

Answer:  thirty-five desks.  From the information given, the classroom must contain five rows with seven desks in each row. (see below)

The Lunch Problem

Lacey and Curtis are having lunch.  Lacey is paying for lunch, but she has only $24.  If she wants to leave 15 percent tip, what is the most she can spend on lunch.

Answer:  $20.87.   To get this trial and error works best at our level...(Algebra students should set up an equation.  24 = 1.15t  where t is the total cost of the lunch. 

So t  = 24/1.15

or $20.87. )

3 Lateral Puzzles

The Answers to these 3 are at the end of the third one!

This week we have vacation so here are some lateral thinking puzzles sent to me by a friend named Dovid. He's in high school and thinks he can put one over on me... so he (and I) challenge you to figure these out.  Each solution with explanation is worth one point.  So you can get 3 points this week.

Here's an easy one:

Da Plane, Da Plane!!
A PLANE(110 FT. LONG) CRASHES ON THE BORDER OF KAHZECKSTAN AND RUSSIA. ON THE PLANE THERE ARE AMERICANS CANADIANS RUSSIANS AND POLES. THE MAJORITY OF THE PLANE IS ON RUSSIA.

THE COUNTRIES WANT TO KNOW:  WHERE ARE THE SURVIVORS
BURIED.
l

This one takes some thought.

The Interveiw

A man is interviewing three people for a job. He says that if they answer
the following question the get the position. The man has three white hats
and two green ones, he puts a hat on each persons head and whoever tells
which color hat is on his head and how he came to that conclusion, gets the
job. The first person("a") looks at the two others and says he can't figure it
out. The same thing happens to person "b". Person "c" is blind and he gets
the right answer.
What color hat is he wearing and how did he know?

This one is VERY HARD!

The Sleeper?!

A MAN LIVES AT HOME WITH OUT A WIFE OR CHILDREN. HE IS NOT THAT POPULAR AND IS NOT VISITED OFTEN BY PEOPLE AND HE RARELY LEAVES HIS WORK PLACE. ONE NIGHT HE GETS INTO BED, TURNS OFF THE LIGHT, AND GOES TO SLEEP. WHEN HE WAKES UP(10 HOURS LATER) HE IS SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT MANY PEOPLE HAD DIED WHILE HE WAS ASLEEP. WHY?

Answers:

    #1 One does not bury the survivors.

    #2 He must be wearing a white hat.  He figured this out because the other two could not tell because each saw one white and one green.  Therefor, there is not enough information for them.

    #3 He is a lighthouse operator and he turned off the light before he went to bed by mistake.

 

1, 2, 3! Can U Get Me?

1, 2, 3, 4! Can U Get Some More!!!

Using the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 only once and the operations +, -, *,and ÷ only once (using three at a time), create the numbers two through ten.  You may use parentheses  Here's some examples for finding 1:

3 + 2 - 4 * 1 = 1

3 * 2 - (1 + 4) = 1

(4 - 2 + 1) ÷ 3 = 1

You can get one point for each number you get (not for the same one over).  You can get up to 9 points.

Answers:  These are only some possible answers, there are many various ways. (This set of answers were submitted by Mohamed From the English School - Cairo.)

2=1+3-(4/2)		3=4+2-3*1	4=4/(3-2)*1
5=1*(4+3-2)		Thanks for the answers Mohamed	6=4*2-3+1
7=4+3*(2-1)	8=(3-1)*2+4	9=3*2+4-1	10=4*3-2/1

The Maztah-Ball

My friends Grandma loved to make matzo-balls for her Grandchildren for Friday night dinner.  She made enough for the children to get three(3) each.  But this past Friday night, when she looked in the soup, she realized she had two (2) extra matzo-balls then she needed.   My friends father was very happy.  Now he and his wife could have matzo-balls also, for a change, and if grandma was going to have some too, then there'd be enough for everybody to have two (2) each.

How many Maztah-balls were there total and how many children are in the family?? (2 possible point for this week.)

Answer: We know that everybody ate two matzo-balls.  That makes six dumplings for the parents and the grandmother.  Two of these six came from the two matzo-balls that were originally considered "extras."  When we reduce the number of matzo-balls for each child from 3 to 2, we find there must be four children in the family.   Total number of matzo-balls  14 = (4 x 3 + 2)

HER SALARY?

A woman got a job at a starting salary of $35,000 a year.  If she received an 8 percent raise each year, how much would her salary be at the beginning of the tenth year?  (Round your answer to the nearest dollar.)
Answer:  $69,965.00.   To get this answer you must Multiply by 108% or 1.08 for each year.

Don't CrossThe Line

On a line, point B is 1 unit to the right of point A, point C is 2 units to the left of point A,  Point D is 3 units to the right of point B, and point E is 12 units to the left of point D.  How many units is the distance from A to E?
Point A	Point E
Answer: 8 units.  The easiest way to solve this problem is to draw a number line and place the point on the line following the measurements given.

Who Am I?

A five digit number has the following characteristics:

	no two digits are the same.
	no occurs in the number.
	the third digit is less than the second digit.
	the second digit is twice the first digit.
	the sum of the first four digits is divisible by 9.
	the fourth digit is the square of the fifth digit.

What number am I?

Answer:  36,542.  The last clue gives possibilities for the fourth and fifth digits: 9 and 3 or 4 and 2.   The third and fourth clues lead to the possibilities of 48,793 and 36,542, but the sum of the first four digits in 48,793 is not divisible by 9.

Answers will appear at the end of the last question.

#1 Friends and Movies (1 point)

Is it cheaper to take two friends to a movie once or one friend twice? Explain!

#2 Apples and Oranges? (2 points)

Sam  can buy three oranges or two apples for the same amount of money.  How many apples can Sam buy if she has just enough money for twenty-four oranges? Explain!

#3 Drip, Drip, Drip (5 points)

You and your family leave for a two-week vacation.   Your older brother accidentally left the bathroom faucet dripping. If the water drips once every second, how many times will the water drip in a) one hour, b) one day, and c) the whole vacation? If the water leaks at a rate of a gallon per hour, d) how much water will be wasted while you are on vacation?  If the cost of water is $0.01 per gallon, e) how much money will be wasted? (Label your answers with the letters of the questions.)

Answers: #1) It is cheaper to take two friends to the movies at one time.   This is because then you only buy three (3) tickets instead of the four (4) when you go at different times.  #2) 16 apples.  Sam has enough money to buy eight (8) sets of three (3) oranges each, so she can buy eight (8) sets of two (2) apples each.  You could use a proportion also to solve this... 3/2 = 24/x.  #3) a) The water will drip 3,600 times in an hour, b) 86,400 times in a day, c) 1,209,600 times while you are on vaction, d) so you waste 336 gallons of water, e) cost $3.36.

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Page by: Mathman (Bruce A. Titen) © 1998