Last week, I posted the Legs in the Bus brainteaser. It's a pretty challenging math problem; it is not a trick question. Some people got it right (David after a couple of attempts, Anali, and Karen ) and others - who will remain nameless - didn't even come close.
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?
Scroll down past the NaBloPoMo badge to see the solution.
plezWorld SolutionThere are 7 girls on a bus Each girl has 7 backpacks In each backpack, there are 7 big cats: 7 girls x 7 backpacks/girl x 7 big cats/backpack = 343 big cats For every big cat there are 7 little cats: 7 girls x 7 backpacks/girl x 7 big cats/backpack x 7 little cats/big cat = 2401 little cats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7 girls x 2 legs/girl = 14 girl legs 343 big cats x 4 legs/cat = 1372 big cat legs 2401 little cats x 4 legs/cat = 9604 little cat legs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~14 girl legs + 1372 big cat legs + 9604 little cat legs = 10,990 legs
There are 10,990 legs in the bus
Yipeee!!! I won! I won! ; )
ReplyDeleteThat brain teaser was like my golf game, if I get a second(or third chance) I can always get a par, or in this case a win (ok, tie)
ReplyDeleteas the group Chocolate Milk once sang, "Everyone's a winner, baby, and that's the truth..."
ReplyDeletewell i think the questions is not very clearly stated. It does use ambigous words like "in the bus" and doesn't specify that kittens also have 4 legs or whether there was a bus driver etc. Plus, some bus chairs would also have legs...so the Question is not very clear which makes the answer so much more difficult if you expect it that way :) But it seems the answer it's pretty straignt forward as long as you remember to add the cats and kittens groups. It helps if you do it methodically, step by step and visualise/draw the groups :)
ReplyDeleteshade,
ReplyDeletewhat is ambiguous about "in the bus"? the brainteaser asks how many total legs are in the bus... i don't see the ambiguity there.
...and unless the kitten (small cat) is deformed, it will have four legs.
...and there was no mention of a bus driver, so why would that even come into play?
...and there was no mention of the bus chairs, so why be concerned about that?
you can only answer a problem (any problem) with the information that is provided to you: 7 girls, 7 backpacksper girl, 7 big cats per backpack, and 7 little cats for every big cat!
The riddle states that there are seven little cats per each big cat, seven big cats per bag, and each girl has seven bags -- it never states that the bags are ON (or, in this case IN) the bus.
ReplyDeleteThe answer is 14.
I am a seventh grader and I found the answer to this problem with no help and two pieces of paper. My grandfather, on the other hand, who has a degree in math could not find the answer to this problem correctly. It only comes to show that the answer to this problem can only be found with creativity, not just math skills! ^_^
ReplyDeletekaitie,
ReplyDeletegood job! the problem is only difficult if you choose to make it difficult... thanks for stopping by to share you wisdom!
Your answer is wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou incorrectly multiplied the number of girls into the formula.
The correct answer is 1582 legs in the bus.
The number of legs are:
14 girls legs. (14x2)
196 big cat legs. (7x7x4)
1,372 small cat legs. (7x7x7x4)
Add them up to 1,582.
In haste my last post was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI have corrected the girls legs formula to (7x2)
=====================
Your answer is wrong.
You incorrectly multiplied the number of girls into the formula.
The correct answer is 1582 legs in the bus.
The number of legs are:
14 girls legs. (7x2)
196 big cat legs. (7x7x4)
1,372 small cat legs. (7x7x7x4)
Add them up to 1,582.
bob b.,
ReplyDeletein your haste to prove me wrong... you missed ONE important fact, each girl was carrying 7 backpacks which each had 7 big cats: 7x7x7x4 = 1372 big cat legs.
and then there were 7 little cats for each big cat: 7x7x7x7x4 = 9604 little cat legs.
after you add ALL those legs up, you end up with 10,990 legs in total (the answer that i provided in the solution)!
This is how I got it
ReplyDelete7 girls x 7 backpacks = 49
7 big cats x 49 backapacks = 343
343 big cats x 7 little cats = 2401 numbaer of little cats
2401 little cats + 343 big cats = 2744 total cats
2744 cats x 4 legs = 10976 total cat legs
10976 total cat legs + 14 girl leag = 10990 total legs
10990 total legs
The bus driver has no-legs!!!!!
ReplyDeletesorry for the guy :(
:)
Ok, I admit that I also got 1582 and understand that I was wrong. But really, how many fifth graders actually get that right? I would guess very few and would like to see the statistics.
ReplyDeleteThe absurdity of it is also distracting and leads to a web of thoughts that go from "Why?" to "That many girls, cats and bags could never fit on a bus.
So the smartest/fastest way to get to the correct answer is, GOOGLE the question and voila! the correct answer magically appears! Now what really is the world coming to...;( That is what a smart fifth grader would have done.
In fact, I was in a training program where we were presented with a similar problem and one team that had a member with a Blackberry found the answer to a "Stack the Nail" puzzle to solve the team building exercise in virtually no time at all. So it goes to show that 1 industrious person can likely outperform a team any day.
Excelsior!
Plez, the band was "Hot Chocolate". Their biggest hit was "You Sexy Thing"
ReplyDeleteIt took me a week to figure out this problem i tried and tired the sad thing is im in 9th grade and i even asked my math teacher she said it should be the bus doesnt have legs it has wheels so when i found the answer on here i was happy.
ReplyDeleteThe question as posted does not say that the girls are in or on the bus. It says there are 7 girls and a bus and so on..... or is that just semantics?
ReplyDelete