Nephews and Niece
I was looking for some books at a bookstore for my niece, when I came across this latest work of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Which says:
"If the sum of my nieces and nephews equals 15, and their product equals 54, and I have more nephews than nieces, How many Nephews and how many nieces is this book dedicated to ?"
"If the sum of my nieces and nephews equals 15, and their product equals 54, and I have more nephews than nieces, How many Nephews and how many nieces is this book dedicated to ?"
Labels: mathemagic, thinktank
posted by Rajesh Lal at
8:19 AM
21 Comments:
6 neices
9 nephews
0 hw dedicated it to his mom
he*
none.. It doesn't say it was dedicated to anyone. Trick question.
why do the plural authors use the singular my here, seems fishy to me.
This one's easy.
Let's use substitution between the equations:
(Let x = # of nephews, y = # of nieces)
1) x + y = 15
2) x * y = 54
Substituting y into the second equation yields:
2) x * (15-x) = 54
This equation ^ simplifies into:
2) 0 = x^2 - 15x + 54
Using factoring methods...
2) 0 = (x - 9)(x - 6)
...so x could either be 9 or 6. But in the question, it says "... and I have more nephews than nieces...". So let's choose 9 to represent x in the original equations as 9 is the biggest number.
So, substitute x (which is 9) into equation 1:
1) 9 + y = 15...
1) y = 6
So there, x (or nephews) equals 9, and y (or nieces) equals 6.
Too easy, 9 nephews, 6 neices.
9 and 6, nephews and nieces, respectively.
well, since you were buying it for your niece, i'm gunna guess it was dedicated to one niece, and no nephews. takers?
i think some of you, are explaining too much and some aren't explaining at all, so, in case anyone is confused, here's a simple break down of it
first, ways to get a sum of 15
15+0=15
14+1=15
13+2=15
12+3=15
11+4=15
10+5=15
9+6=15
8+7=15
the rest is just reversed
now we try to get a product of 54
15*0=0
14*1=14
13*2=26
12*3=36
11*4=44
10*5=50
9*6=54
8*7=56
there, 9+6=15, 9*6=54
i find it amazing how some people can take such an easy question and over think it to the point they have and how others can just be so way out in orbit without a leg to stand on
seriously, wtf, 9 nephews 6 nieces, don't overthink it....
Also, Rajesh, Nice puzzle, due to the fact of using your psychology powers, you would have everybody that has passed the second grade giving the correct answer, you made it seem like there was a thing we were missing. Very sneaky sis (haha lol that is the tagline for that one connect 4 commercial)
Yeah... fortunately you really don't need quadratics to solve this one!
How are they related to both authors? Some redneck going around?
i think this has reached insectual formats and needs a good spanking
9 nephews and 6 nieces. Nephews and niece for the title is bad grammar, but it is a math question, not English....haha
this is a trick question. does it say these nephews and neices are getting the book dedicated to them?
no, it doesnt. i think 0 neices and 0 nephews are getting it dedicated to them.
it doesn't say the book was dedicated to nobody!
9 nephews and 6 nieces eh. did you put unnecessary information to make it seem complicated when actuality the answer is simple. Or did you use double psychology to where we believe the question is simple, where really there's something missing. highly doubt it though, so I stick with 9x6=54, 9+6=15
...dedicated to? i wish you used another word :|
9 nephews and 6 nieces
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