Puzzle 13
As the auditor for my local theme park, I noticed that on Saturday there were 4,296 children and 2,143 adults and the takings were £98,718.
However, on Sunday, there were 5,146 children and 2,807 adults and the takings were £122,570.
How much were the children's tickets and adult's tickets?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zvhv
share
Hint
This is quite a tricky puzzle, and knowledge of algebra would certainly help.
Answer
The children tickets were £14, and the adult tickets were £18.
Reasoning
There are a number of methods for solving this problem, including:
Using a spreadsheet.
Using a computer program.
Using the intersection of lines on a graph.
Using an online equation solver.
Solving simultaneous equations using algebra.
Solving simultaneous equations using inverse matrices.
Here is my solution using simultaneous equations and algebra.
First construct two algebraic equations, where 'c' is the number of children, and 'a' is the number of adults:
[1] 4296c + 2143a = 98718
[2] 5146c + 2807a = 122570
To make the number in front of 'c' the same on both, we multiply [1] by 5146 and [2] by 4296 to give:
[3] 22107216c + 11027878a = 508002828
[4] 22107216c + 12058872a = 526560720
Now we can do [4] − [3] to give:
1030994a = 18557892
Divide throughout by 1030994 so that:
a = 18
Substituting a = 18 in [1] will give:
4296c + 2143 x 18 = 98718
4296c + 38574 = 98718
4296c = 60144
c = 14
Double-Checking
c = 14 and a = 18
4,296 x 14 + 2,143 x 18 = 98,718
and
5,146 x 14 + 2,807 x 18 = 122,570
Puzzle 14
My local greengrocer is a would-be mathematician.
She likes to arrange the apples in nice rows.
When she lays the apples in rows of 3, she has one left over.
And, when she lays them in rows of 5, she also has one left over.
Remarkably, she also has one left over when she arranges them in rows of 7 and 9.
But 11 seems to be the magic number, because in rows of 11 there are no apples left over.
How many apples does she have?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/zocw
share
Hint
There are fewer than 1,000 apples.
Answer
946 apples.
Reasoning
We know that (answer − 1) is divisible by 3, 5, 7, and 9.
If it's divisible by 9 then it's automatically divisible by 3.
So the number must be a multiple of 5, 7, and 9.
[5 x 7 x 9 = 315]
Since these numbers share no other common factors, we know that the answer must be a multiple of 315 (+ 1).
Let's try 1 x 315 + 1: 316 ÷ 11 = 28.73, and this doesn't work.
Let's try 2 x 315 + 1: 631 ÷ 11 = 57.36, and this doesn't work.
Let's try 3 x 315 + 1: 946 ÷ 11 = 86, and this works, and is the answer.
Puzzle 16
What number comes next in this sequence:
302 · 202 · 102 · 002 · 991 · ?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
workings
hint
answer
print
www.brainbashers.com
/puzzle/ziei
share
Hint
Try reversing the numbers.
Answer
891.
If we reverse each of the numbers we get:
203 · 202 · 201 · 200 · 199 · ?
Which is counting down from 203, and the next number is 198, which is 891 when reversed.
next >