A trout's tail weighs eight pounds.
Its head weighs as much as the tail and one-half of the body combined, and the body weighs as much as the head and tail combined.
What does the whole trout weigh?
Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone
hide workings
hint
answer
print
Share link – www.brainbashers.com/puzzle/zksk
Hint
A little bit of algebra might help.
Answer
64 pounds.
The head weighs 24 pounds, the body weighs 32 pounds, and the tail weighs 8 pounds.
Reasoning
The trout is made up of the head, body and tail, H, B and T.
We are told that:
T = 8
(1) H = T + B ÷ 2
(2) B = H + T
Placing T into (1) and (2) we get:
(3) H = 8 + B ÷ 2
(4) B = H + 8
Using (4) in (3) we get:
H = 8 + B ÷ 2
(5) H = 8 + (H + 8) ÷ 2
Multiplying (5) by 2 we get:
2H = 16 + H + 8
2H = 24 + H
H = 24
Therefore, by (2):
B = H + T
B = 24 + 8
B = 32
Giving:
H = 24
B = 32
T = 8
And a total of 24 + 32 + 8 = 64 pounds.
