Thursday, November 08, 2007

Brainteaser: Legs in the Bus?


I was sent the following brainteaser a few weeks ago. It's a pretty challenging math problem; it is not a trick question.

  • There are 7 girls on a bus

  • Each girl has 7 backpacks

  • In each backpack, there are 7 big cats

  • For every big cat there are 7 little cats


  • So how many legs are there in the bus?



    Leave a comment with your name and your answer. The correct answer will be posted HERE next week.



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    18 comments:

    1. Are there any boys on the bus? How many kiddos in TOTAL are there on the bus?

      P.S... please don't answer cos I probably STILL couldn't figure out the answer, given I don't have enough fingers and toes. www.iloveakiwi.com

      ReplyDelete
    2. shit, I forgot to account for the fact that big cats and little cats have legs to.

      ReplyDelete
    3. 7 girls (14 legs)
      49 (7x7) backpacks
      316 (49x7) big cats (1464 legs)
      2212 (316x7) little cats (8848 legs)
      10326 legs

      ReplyDelete
    4. 10,990 after recalculating

      ReplyDelete
    5. thanks to you guys (david, anitra, and tom) for dropping by and "teasing your brain".

      i will post the correct answer NEXT WEEK (hey, i gotta come up with a blog entry every day this month)! *smile*

      ReplyDelete
    6. Girls -
      7 girls =14 legs

      Cats -
      1 Big cat has 7 cats = 8 cats
      7 groups of 8 cats per backpack = 56 cats
      56 cats per bacpack = 224 legs
      7 backpacks of 224 cat legs = 1568 legs

      Total # of legs 1582 legs

      If there is a bus driver for the 7 little girls then it's 1584 legs excluding any other passengers.

      ReplyDelete
    7. I figured 10,990 legs.

      7 girls = 14 legs

      49 backpacks x 7 cats = 343 cats

      343 big cats x 4 legs = 1,372 big cat legs

      343 big cats x 7 = 2,401 little cats

      2,401 x 4 = 9,604 little cat legs

      9,604 little cat legs + 1,372 big cat legs + 14 girl legs = 10,990 legs total.

      ReplyDelete
    8. Hmmm. I just noticed the issue of the bus driver. Well, if it's sort of a trick question, then adding in the driver's assumed two legs would be 10,992. Otherwise, I stick with my original 10,990.

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    9. yes, well 49x7=343 not 316 so i got that part wrong, the recalculators got it right, i think!

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    10. ok, y'all... the only people on the bus are the little girls with their backpacks: no little boys! no bus driver!

      LOL!

      ReplyDelete
    11. I come up with 10,990.

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    12. this is a trick - i say there are NO legs on the bus - buses don't have legs;-).

      ReplyDelete
    13. Ohhhh shooot I didn't read this right...I didn't see that each girl had 7 backpacks. LOL...why would they have 7 backpacks. These are some cruel little girls to be putting all those cats in backpacks.

      I think this is a trick too...and the answer is there are no legs IN the bus. All the girls on on it not in it..LMAO. why did i even try this..LOL

      ReplyDelete
    14. And technically the problem said the girls were ON the bus, then later it asks how many were IN the bus. So I'm going with ZERO. :D

      (10990 with no driver, or 10990 with a legless driver, hehe...)

      ReplyDelete
    15. 10990 legs. Have to separate the amount of legs for the big cats and the kittens.

      I like kittens.

      ReplyDelete
    16. 10990 (10992 if there is a bus driver).

      ReplyDelete

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