Is Bill correct or incorrect?

Solution:
He is incorrect. Two of the candies that Bill ate were blue, which leaves only 8 blue candies. A total of 28 candies remain, which gives a probability of 8/28, 4/14, or 0.29.

March 12, 2007

PROBLEM: We have to have a pi problem this week for Pi Day (March 14th)!
Leonardo cut a circle with a diameter of 16 inches out of a piece of poster board for a school project. What was the APPROXIMATE area of the poster board circle he used?

ANSWER: 201 square inches

March 5, 2007

PROBLEM: An auditorium has 13 doors numbered 1 through 13. In how many ways can a person enter through an even-numbered door and leave through an odd-numbered door?

ANSWER: 42 ways

February 26 , 2007

PROBLEM: While traveling to China last year, I bought six comic books for a total of seventeen yuan. Some of the comics cost one yuan, others cost two yuan, while the most expensive ones sold for ten yuan apiece. How many of each type did I buy?

ANSWER: One ten-yuan book, two two-yuan books, and three one-yuan book.

February 19 , 2007

Happy Chinese New Year!!! THE YEAR OF THE DOG.
PROBLEM: Suppose you had a stretch of fencing with which to make a nice big playpen for your new puppy Sam. If you wanted to give Sam the biggest possible area to roam in, what shape should the fence be?

ANSWER: A circle will yield the maximum area for a fixed stretch of fencing.

Happy Valentines Day week!!!

February 12 , 2007
PROBLEM: A Valentine dilemma: Three gentlemen: Andy, Bob and Clyde are dating three ladies: Lydia, Mary and Nina. The town gossip says, "Andy gave Mary a Valentines Day card. Mary give a Valentines Day card to Bob and Bob gave one to Lydia," but she is always wrong! Who gave whom a Valentines Day card?

Answer: Andy gave a card to Lydia, Mary gave one to Clyde, and Bob gave one to Nina.

February 5 , 2007

PROBLEM: If you think about it, today's date is kind of interesting (02/05/07). I noticed that the month added to the day gave the year (02 plus 05 equals 07). How many more times will this occur until 12/31/10?

ANSWER: 28 more times. They are 03/04/07, 04/03/07, 05/02/07, 06/01/07, 01/07/08, 02/06/08, 03/05/08, 04/04/08, 05/03/08, 06/02/08, 07/01/08, 01/08/09, 02/07/09, 03/06/09, 04/05/09, 05/04/09, 06/03/09, 07/02/09, 08/01/09, 01/09/10, 02/08/10, 03/07/10, 04/06/10, 05/05/10, 06/04/10, 07/03/10, 08/02/10, and 09/01/10.

January 29 , 2006

PROBLEM: If three-eighths of a number is 72, what is one-fourth of the number?

ANSWER: 48

January 22 , 2006

PROBLEM: A pair of pants and a shirt together cost $42.80. If the pants cost $22 more than the shirt, how much does the shirt cost?

ANSWER: The shirt costs $10.40

January 08 , 2006

PROBLEM: If you think about it, yesterday's date was kind of interesting (01/07/07). I noticed that the month times the day gave the year (01times 07 equals 07). How many more times will this occur until 12/31/10?

ANSWER: 12 more times. They are 07/01/07, 01/08/08, 02/04/08, 04/02/08, 08/01/08, 01/09/09, 03/03/09, 09/01/09, 01/10/10, 02/05/10, 05/02/10, and 10/01/10.

THE LAST P.O.W. FOR 2006!!!

PROBLEM: Eylora and Leo take turns multiplying numbers. First Eylora chooses the number 4. Leo multiplies that by 4 to get 16. Eylora multiplies that by 4 to get 64. After going back and forth several times, one of them comes up with the number 1,048,576. Who came up with the number, Eylora or Leo?

Answer: Leo came up with the number.

December 04 , 2006

PROBLEM: Getcha-Thar Taxicab Company charges 75 cents for the first quarter-mile and 15 cents for each additional quarter-mile. Safe-n-Sound Cab Company charges $1.00 for the first quarter-mile and 10 cents for each additional quarter-mile. At what distance would the fare be the same for both companies?

ANSWER: One and a half miles.

November 27 , 2006

PROBLEM: This one is truly one to think about. Talk about using Logic!!!
Four friends (Abby, Ben, Clara, and David) were shown a number. Abby said, "Hey that number has two digits." Ben replied, "It goes evenly into 150." Clara commented, "However, it is not 150." Lastly, David said, "The number is divisible by 25." It turns out that one (and only one) of the friends is lying. Who is the liar?


ANSWER: David is the liar.
Here is why:
Abby isn't the liar because there is no three-digit (or more) number that divides 150 and if it contained three or more digits then either Ben or Clara would also be liars. If the digits are less than 2 then 25 wouldn't divide into it either, which would make David a liar. SO ABBY ISN'T THE LIAR.
Ben isn't the liar because if the number doesn't go evenly into 150 then either Abby or David would also be liars, because it would either be one, three or more digits or a number not divisible by 25. SO BEN ISN'T THE LIAR.
Clara isn't the liar. If the number where 150 then Abby would also be the liar. SO CLARA ISN'T THE LIAR.
David is the liar. There are two-digit numbers that divide evenly into 150 (without being 150 obviously) and they are 10, 15, and 30.

November 13 , 2006

PROBLEM: Farmer Brown has only ducks and horses. She can't remember how many of each she has, but does remember that she has twenty-two animals, which is her age. She also remembers that those animals have a total of 56 legs, which is her father's age. They call Farmer Brown¿s father, "Old Farmer Brown." Assuming that each animal has the required number of legs (no more or no less), how many of each does Farmer Brown have?

ANSWER: Farmer Brown has 16 ducks and 6 horses.

November 6 , 2006

PROBLEM: C.E., Donna, Elizabeth, and Lisa are all friends. C.E. says he is older than Elizabeth, and he should know because he is her brother. Donna knows she's older than all of them, and Elizabeth is pretty sure that Lisa is younger than her. List the friends in order from oldest to youngest.

ANSWER: Donna, C.E., Elizabeth, and Lisa

October 30, 2006

PROBLEM: On Halloween night Mrs. Haywood noticed that she had fewer than 20 pieces of candy. Since it was getting late, she figured that the next time that doorbell rang she would give away the remaining candy so that each child would receive an equal share. She figured that if she had two trick-or-treaters she would have one piece of candy remaining. She then realized that if she had three or four trick-or-treaters she would still have a piece of candy remaining. How many pieces of candy did Mrs. Haywood have?

ANSWER: Mrs. Haywood had 13 pieces of candy.

October 23, 2006

PROBLEM: If one worker can complete a job in 12 days and a second worker takes 24 days to complete the same task, how long will it take them working together?

October 16, 2006

PROBLEM: If 30 hotdogs can feed a family of five for three meals, how many hot dogs would be needed to feed just three of them for eight meals? (Assume everyone eats an equal amount.)

ANSWER: 48 hot dogs. If 30 hot dogs are needed for 3 meals this means that 10 dogs are eaten per meal and if 5 people are eating equal shares of the hot dogs, each person eats only 2 hot dogs. 2 hot dogs per person (3 people) per meal (8 meals) are 48 hot dogs.

October 9 , 2006

PROBLEM: Leo has $3.45 in quarters and dimes. He has four more quarters then dimes. How many of each coin does he have?

October 2 , 2006

PROBLEM: A rectangle with a perimeter of 104cm has a width 18cm less than its length. What is the rectangle's area?

ANSWER: The area of the rectangle is 595 squared centimeters

September 25, 2006

PROBLEM: At the thrift store a Frisbee and a Softball together cost $8.20. The softball costs $1.20 more than the Frisbee. How much does the softball cost?

ANSWER: The softball costs $4.70

September 18, 2006

PROBLEM: An item can be purchased for 4 standard U.S. coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar). If you wanted to buy two of these items you would need at least 6 coins. However, if you wanted to buy three of these items, you would need two coins. How much do 10 of these items cost?

ANSWER: A single item costs 17 cents. Therefore, the answer is $1.70.

September 11, 2006

PROBLEM: Machine A makes 120 candies per minute. Machine B makes 3 candies per second. How many machine As would you need if you wanted to equal the productivity of 4 Machine Bs?

ANSWER: You would need 6 Machine As.

PROBLEM: A low-calorie donut has 90 percent fewer calories than a regular donut. How many low-calorie donuts would you need to eat to take in as many calories as you would get from a regular donut?

ANSWER: You would have to eat 10 low-calorie donuts to equal the number of calories in a regular donut.