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 Forum index » Diversions » TimeWasters
Nice little riddle I found
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PaleFigure
Decorated


Joined: 12 Nov 2002
Posts: 168
Location: Wollongong, NSW Australia

 		Nice little riddle I found
You may have seen this one, but it's quite clever and I thought you'd enjoy it. There *is* a definite answer, and there is a definite method to *get* the answer, you only receive full points for supplying both (answer and method).

Two old friends meet again after many years, one asks the other:
"I heard you have 3 children now, what are their ages?"
"The product of their ages is 36.", answered the other.
"But that tells me nothing!"
"Very well, the sum of their ages is the same as our house number."
"Hmm, but that still is not enough information!"
"The eldest one has blue eyes."
"Thank you, now I know their ages."

So, how old are the children?
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:45 am
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AndyA
Boot


Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 14
Location: UK
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
First you need to enumerate the possible sets of three positive integers which multiply to give 36. This gives us several potential answers.

If you calculate the sum of each of these potential answers, you'll notice that they all give unique answers, except for two. Now, given that the other gentleman needs more information, the correct answer must be one of these two: either {9, 2, 2} or {6, 6, 1} (NB: we have to assume here that the reason he needs more info is because he can't choose between these options, rather than because he doesn't know the other guy's house number).

Given that the first person refers to a single eldest child, rather than eldest twins, it must be {9, 2, 2}.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:13 am
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Guest
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Spoiler (Rollover to View):
That doesn't work. One of the twins must still be older than the other - it's impossible for them to come out exactly simultaneously. Unless they're identical twins, there's still a good chance they'll have different eye colours.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 8:21 pm
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dishboy
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Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 399
Location: Atlanta
Guest wrote:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
That doesn't work. One of the twins must still be older than the other - it's impossible for them to come out exactly simultaneously. Unless they're identical twins, there's still a good chance they'll have different eye colours.


Spoiler (Rollover to View):
I think what he's saying is that since they refer to the "eldest", that would be the non-twin. Hence the 9,2,2 solution.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 31, 2004 10:42 pm
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freaky_janis
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Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 68
Location: Ridderkerk - The Netherlands

 		Different outcome
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Another possibility is 3-3-4

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:50 am
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LordKinbote
Decorated

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 261

 		Re: Different outcome
freaky_janis wrote:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Another possibility is 3-3-4


Actually, not true.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Out of all the triples that multiply to 36, only two of them add up to the same number (9+2+2=13 and 6+6+1=13). 3,3 and 4 add up to 10, but it's the only triple that does. If his house number was 10 and that was indeed the answer, he wouldn't have needed the last hint about the "eldest" child. Because he still can't get it after the house number clue, there must be more than one possible triple that adds up to his house number.


That said, I'm a big fan of this riddle too.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:33 am
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freaky_janis
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Joined: 27 Dec 2004
Posts: 68
Location: Ridderkerk - The Netherlands

 		Sorry - you're so right... Embarassed
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"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."

PostPosted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 4:55 am
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