7/31/2019 15 Tricky Math Problems

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15 Tricky Math Questions Have a go at solving these 15 math questions.

Questions:

1) There are 8 Apples on the table, you take 3. How many do you have?

2) 10 Birds in a field. 2 were shot, how many were left?

3) Take away the first letter, take away the last letter, then take away all the other letters. What do

you have left?

4) If you have 4 melons in one hand, and 7 apples in the other - What do you have?

5) A box has nine ears of corn in it. A Squirrel carries out three ears a day, and yet it takes him nine

days to carry out all the corn. Explain?

6) Why do white sheep eat more than black sheep?

7) A man wanted to plant 4 trees, but all 4 had to be equal distances from each other. How did he do

it?

8) I have 2 coins in my hand that add up to 60c. One of the coins isn't a 50c piece. What are the

coins?

9) A fisherman was asked how long the fish was he had caught. He said "it is 30cms plus half its

length" How long was the fish?

10) A Hammer and a Nail cost $31. If the Hammer cost $30 more than the Nail, what is the cost of 

each?

11) It takes 7 men 2 hours to build a wall. How long does it take 3 men to build the same wall?

12) "I will bet you $1" said Fred, "that if you give me $2, I will give you $3 in return."

"Done," replied Tom. Was he?

13) "How much will one cost?"

"25 cents"

"How much will fifteen cost?"

"50 cents"

"OK then, I'll take one hundred and sixteen"

"Thank you, that will be 75 cents please"

Explain.

14) What comes next in the following sequence ? 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, ...

15) In a scientific context, what could the following phrase mean?

How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy chapters involving quantum mechanics

7/31/2019 15 Tricky Math Problems

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 Answers:

1) If you take 3 then you have 3.

2) 2 - the others flew away.

3) The Mailman.

4) Big hands.

5) He has 2 of his own ears, so he carries out only 1 ear of corn per day.

6) There are more white sheep than black sheep.

7) He planted 3 trees at the corners of an equilateral triangle. He built a mound in the middle and

 planted the 4th on the top of the mound so that it was the same distance from the other 3 trees.

(on the points of a tetrahedron.)

8) 50c and a 10c (The coin that isn't a 50c piece is a 10c. The other coin is the 50c).

9) 60 cms.

10) Hammer $30.50, Nail $0.50

11) No need to bother, the 7 men have already built it.

12) Tom accepts the bet, gives Fred $2. Fred does not give Tom $3 so loses the bet and has to pay

Tom $1. Result Fred gains $1.

13) He is buying house numbers, each separate digit costs 25c, so 116 is three digits so 3 x 25c = 75c.

14) 100 (The next number that doesn't contain a "T" in the spelling).

15) The number of letters in each word refers to pi to 14 decimal places, i.e. 3.14159265358979