Category Archives: brain puzzler

June 2018 Brain Puzzler Solution

Q: Sabina’s car has 50% better fuel efficiency (miles per gallon) than her old car.  The new car uses diesel which is 20% more costly than the gas in her old car.  On a percent basis, how much will she save on a long trip?

A:  20%
For this problem, we made up numbers to make the Math easier :)
We can use 10 miles per gallon for Sabina’s old car which would make the new one 15 mpg.
We can pick an easy number that plays nice with 10 and 15 like 30.
If she goes 30 miles on a trip, she will need 3 gallons with the old car but only 2 gallons with the new car.
Now we need a price for gas so we assumed $4.
If gas is $4/gallon but diesel is 20% more at $4.80 per gallon, she would have spent 3 x $4 = $12 with the old car but now spends only $9.60 for the new car (2 x $4.80).
She saved $2.40 on $12 which is a 20% savings.

May 2018 Brain Puzzler Solution

Q: Two coins are flipped and you cannot see the outcome but are told that at least one is a head.  What is the probability that the other coin also landed on heads?
A: 1/3
This is a classic probability question.  Once you know that one coin is a head, there are 3 possible outcomes for the two coins with at least one head.
HH
HT
TH
Since you know that one is a heads, and there are 3 possible outcomes, the probability is 1/3.

April 2018 Brain Puzzler Solution

Q: How many 6 digit numbers are there whose digits sum to 51?

A: 56.

There are 3 possible sets of 6 numbers: 999996 where the 6 can be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th place values making 6 6 digit numbers

3 9s and 3 8s which is the same probability as 3 boys and 3 girls with 6 children 3C6 = 20 6 digit numbers

and 4 9s with an 8 and a 7 with 30 possibilities
789999
798999
799899
799989
799998
879999
897999
899799
899979
899997
978999
979899
979989
979998
987999
989799
989979
989997
997899
997989
997998
998799
998979
998997
999789
999798
999879
999897
999978
999987

 

 

 

credit to Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival

March 2018 Brain Puzzler Solution

Q: Leaving at 8:00 AM, if Ms. Brown drives at an average speed of 40 miles per hour, she will be late by 3 minutes. If she drives at an average speed of 60 miles per hour, she will be early by 3 minutes.  How many miles per hour does Ms. Brown need to drive to get to work exactly on time?

A: 48 miles per hour

There is a 6 minute difference between the fast (60 mph) speed and the slow (40 mph) speed.  This 6 minutes is 1/10 of an hour.
Distance = rate x time.  The two distances are equal so:
We can figure out how long it would take at 60 mph and go from there.
40 (t + .1) = 60 t
40t  + 4 = 60 t
4 = 20 t
4/20 = t = 1/5 hour
So it will take 1/5 hour at 60 mph which is 12 miles. (1/5 hour = 12 minutes)
It will take abit longer at 40 mph:
1/5 hour + 1/10 hour =
.2 hour + .1 hour = .3 hour at 40 mph  which is also 12 miles. (.3 hour is 18 minutes).
If Ms. Brown was exactly on time it would take her 15 minutes to go the 12 miles.
12 miles in 15 min = 48 mph.

February 2018 Brain Puzzler Solution

Q: For a calendar, with two six sided dice make all possible monthly dates using two digits  (from 01 to 31) by writing one digit (from 0, 1, 2, …, 8, 9) on each face of the two dice.
A: It does not seem like it can be done — but…the Eureka part of the answer is:
the 9 is the 6 upside and vice versa!
Dice 1: 0 1 2 4 5 7 and  Dice 2: 0 1 2 3 8 9 (9 is also 6)
or
Dice 1 : 0 1 2 3 4 5 and Dice 2 : 0 1 2 6 7 8 (6 is also 9)