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Old 13th September 2020, 13:21
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Varley Isle of Man Varley is offline
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Puzzle

I have a puzzle book "Mindbending classic logic puzzles" I have run into a complication with the one on Page 8 which goes as follows:

A man died leaving nearly GBP 8000 to be divided between his widow, four daughters and three sons. He stipulated that each daughter should receive twice as much as their mother and each son receive twice as much as their mother. If the exact amount left was GBP 7936, how much should the widow receive?

So X [the widows's portion] + (4 x 2)X [the daughters'] + (3 x 2)X [the sons'] = 7936

X=7936/15

The widow gets GBP 529-06. But the answer is given as GBP 256.

After much head and paper scratching the question put should clearly (?) have been "....each daughter should receive twice as much as their brothers.."

I found it very difficult to work out the question from what should have been a very simple answer. I will have to lay off the Port.
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Last edited by Varley; 13th September 2020 at 13:28.
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Old 13th September 2020, 17:22
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It's no wonder you get headaches

P.S. the answer to all life's questions is 42..... simples
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Old 13th September 2020, 19:04
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I think that I may have found the original question, using Dollars.
It therefore lost something in translation, maybe.

A man died leaving all of his money to be divided among his widow, four daughters, and three sons. He stipulated that each daughter should receive three times as much as each son, and each son should receive twice as much as their mother. If the amount left was $7936, how much did the widow receive?

Best method of solving seems to be algebra...
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Old 13th September 2020, 19:09
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Let X be the amount that the Mother gets.

Then each son gets 2x and each daughter gets 6x.
Mother + sons + daughters = 7936
X + (2x * 3) + (6x * 4) = 7936
X + 6x + 24x = 7936
31x = 7936
X = 256
Mother gets $256

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Old 13th September 2020, 20:38
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Hardly seems fair, somehow. Are you sure this wasn't in "Mathematical Pie?" That little publication used to be famous for mathematical riddles and conundrums.

One I recall was a question investigating how to drop an egg 6 feet without breaking it.


The answer was; "Stand on a chair."
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Old 13th September 2020, 23:36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malcolm G View Post
Let X be the amount that the Mother gets.

Then each son gets 2x and each daughter gets 6x.
Mother + sons + daughters = 7936
X + (2x * 3) + (6x * 4) = 7936
X + 6x + 24x = 7936
31x = 7936
X = 256
Mother gets $256

I thought that didn't 'flow' well. Clunky prose. Daughters' 6xMother's once is the same as 3 times their Brothers' twice. But as you have found an original source that works I'll give it to you.
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Old 14th September 2020, 06:26
Engine Serang Northern Ireland Engine Serang is offline
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If you use only prime numbers and transpose the siblings into a Laplace Transformation you will end up with the correct answer. But the youngest sister will never speak to her brothers again and the eldest brother will punch his next brother on the nose. In the meantime the family Solicitor will have submitted a bill of more than the initial 7619 Guineas.
Alas no money for anyone.
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Old 14th September 2020, 07:57
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Ah, The calculation uses lower case x where it should have used upper X, never mind you get the drift I am sure.
For the avoidance of confusion an asterisk is used for multiplication.
If I had written it by hand I would have use lower case x for the unknown and an upper case X for multiplication. Thus are the problems with computers.
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Old 14th September 2020, 08:26
Engine Serang Northern Ireland Engine Serang is offline
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You can't beat a quill pen and an abacus.
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Old 14th September 2020, 10:10
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And having achieved the solution, how do you suppose that my runner with cleft stick reaches Fingal's sod to deliver same?
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Old 14th September 2020, 12:43
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All true, perhaps, but I don't want to beat an abacus at X (or x) with a cleft quill in Fingal's cave.
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David V
Lord Finchley tried to mend the electric light
Himself. It struck him dead and serve him right
It is the duty of the wealthy man
To give employment to the artisan

Last edited by Varley; 14th September 2020 at 13:55.
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Old 14th September 2020, 13:04
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Engine Serang View Post
You can't beat a quill pen and an abacus.
What do you do, write on the beads?
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Old 13th October 2020, 10:13
DeniseDArteaga United States DeniseDArteaga is offline
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I get sick when math is the topic hahaha
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