Many years ago, a cruise liner sank in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The castaways luckily landed on a remote desert island.
There was enough food for the 135 people to last four weeks.
Nine days later a rescue ship appeared, unluckily this ship also sank, leaving an additional 36 people stranded on the island to now share the original rationed food.
The food obviously had to be re-rationed, everyone was now on three-quarters of the original ration, so how many days in total would the food last, from the day of the original sinking?
Originally there was enough food for 135 people for 28 days, which totals 3780 rations.
After 9 days, 1215 rations had been eaten.
Therefore there were now 2565 rations left for 171 people, which would last for another 20 days at three-quarter rations per person = (2565 ÷ 3/4) ÷ 171.
Which is 29 days in total from the original sinking.
The initial letters form the word ECLIPSE, so any animal beginning with E will work.
??
Puzzle 20
At my local farmer's merchant, you can buy chicken feed for £4 per tonne, pig feed for £3 per tonne, and cattle feed for 40p per tonne. The feed can only be purchased by the tonne, and part tonnes aren't sold.
Last week I bought some animal feed, and luckily I managed to buy exactly 100 tonnes for exactly £100. How much of each feed did I buy?
Hint
What must the number of tonnes of cattle feed be a multiple of?
Answer
I bought 8 tonnes of chicken feed, 12 tonnes of pig feed, and 80 tonnes of cattle feed.
Reasoning
The number of tonnes of cattle feed must be a multiple of 5, because we need to have a whole number of pounds (5 x 0.40).
If all 100 tonnes was cattle feed, the cost would have been £40, which isn't enough.
If 95 tonnes was cattle feed the cost would have been £38, and the remaining 5 tonnes of (the most expensive) chicken feed at £20, gives a total of £58, which isn't enough.
If 90 tonnes was cattle feed the cost would have been £36, and the remaining 10 tonnes of (the most expensive) chicken feed at £40, gives a total of £76, which isn't enough.
If 85 tonnes was cattle feed the cost would have been £34, and the remaining 15 tonnes of (the most expensive) chicken feed at £60, gives a total of £94, which isn't enough.
If 80 tonnes was cattle feed the cost would have been £32, and the remaining 20 tonnes of (the most expensive) chicken feed at £80, gives a total of £112. So, this might be a possible answer …
We need 20 tonnes of chicken feed and pig feed to equal £68, so let's reduce the chicken feed until it works.
