Five Math Riddles or Puzzles

1. A room measures 12 feet by 15 feet. How many 3-foot by 3- foot squares of carpet are needed
to cover the floor of this room?

Understand the Problem:

To no how many 3-foot by 3-foot squares of carpet are need to cover the floor of the room, if
the room measures 12 feet by 15 feet.

Devise the Plan:

We will be guessing the solution, then check for the result.

Carry Out the Plan:

• Multiply 12 feet by 15 feet to have the exact measure of the room.

12ft x 15ft= 180 square ft.
• Multiply 3-foot by 3-foot to get the measure of a square.
3ft x 3ft= 9 square ft.
• Then, divide the product of the measure of room by the product of squares of carpet needed.
180square ft/9square ft= 20 square ft.

Review the Solution:

• Checking the sum of the number of ducks and pigs we get 14+21= 35
• Checking the sum of the legs of ducks and pigs 14(4)+21(2) = 56+42= 98

Therefore, there are 20 square ft. of carpet needed to cover the floor of the room.

2. Farmer Brown has many animals on his farm. He has 72 chickens, which make up 60% of his
total animals, and the rest of his animals are sheep. How many legs in total do his animals
have?

Understand the Problem:

To determine how many legs in total do the animals have, if farmer Brown has 72 chickens
(which have two legs), which make up 60% total animals and the rest are sheep (which has four legs)

Devise a Plan:

We are going to make and equation. Since we do not know what is the umber of sheep, we are
going to solve first the number of sheep to determine how many legs in total do the animals have.
However, we do not also know the number of sheep so, let the number of sheep= a.

Carry Out the Plan:

Let the number of sheep= a

Let the total number of animals= n

We need to convert the percentage into decimals so, 60%= 0.6n

Then divide the number of chickens to the total number of animals. a= 72/0.6= 120

Then minus the number of chickens in 120 to determine the numbers of sheep. A= 120-72= 48 numbers
of sheep in total.

After solving the numbers of sheep, we are now going to solve how many legs in total do the animals
have.

Number of chickens= 72 Legs of chicken= 2 legs

Numbers of Sheep= 48 Legs of sheep= 4 legs

(72 x 2) + (48 x 4) = ?

72 x 2= 144

48 x 4= 192

144+192= 336 legs in total

Review the Solution:

There should be more legs than animals and the number should be an even number (the animals
each have an even number of legs) and 336 fits this. We can check that 0.6(120) = 72 chickens and that
0.4(120) = 48 to make sure the number of animals is correct. Our answer checks out. Therefore, farmer
Brown’s animals have 336 legs in total.

3. Nadia’s father is 36. He is 16 years older than four times Nadia's age. How old is Nadia?

Understand the Problem:

This problem is to determine the age of Nadia if her father is 36 years old and he is 16 years older than
four times Nadia’s age.

Devise the Plan:

This problem can be solved by guess and check method. We guess a random number for Nadia’s
age. We notice that when we decreased Nadia’s age by one, her father’s age decreased by four. We want
the father’s age to be 36, which is 16 years smaller than 52. This means that we should guess Nadia’s age
to be 4 years younger than 9. We can also use the backward method to make sure the answer is correct

Carry Out the Plan:

We will multiply the number by 4 and add 16 and check to see if the result equals to 36.

Guess: 5

4(5)+16=36

Working backwards means we start with the father’s age, subtract 16 and divide by 4.
36-16=20

20/4= 5

so, Nadia’s age=5 years old

Review the Solution:

Since both of the solutions have the same answer, we can say that Nadia’s age is 5 years old.

4. If 4 people say “hello” to each other once, how many times would the word “hello” be said?

Understand the Problem:

To know how many times would the word hello be said by the 4 people?

Devise the Plan:

We will be using variables and combination to solve this problem.

Carry Out the Plan:

Let Person 1=A

Let Person 2=B

Let Person 3=C

Let Person 4=D

AB, AC, AD

BC, BD

CD

Count all the combination to know the answer. So overall, 6 times is the word hello be said.

Review the Solution:

Since no two persons would say hello if they said hello to each other earlier. Therefore, the word hello
will be said 6 times.

5. Nadia rents a car for a day. Her car rental company charges $50 per day and $0.40 per mile.
Peter rents a car from a different company that charges $70 per day and $0.30 per mile. How
many miles do they have to drive before Nadia and Peter pay the same price for the rental for
the same number of miles?

Understand the Problem: To know how many miles, they have to drive to pay the same price of the rental
for the same number of miles. If Nadia’s car rental costs $50 plus $0.40 per mile, while Peter’s car rental
costs $70 plus $0.30 per mile.
Devise the Plan:

We will use the guess and check method in order to solve the problem.

Carry Out the Plan:

• Nadia’s total cost is $50 plus $0.40 times the number of miles.
• Peter’s total cost is $70 plus $0.30 times the number of miles.
• Guess the number of miles and use this guess to calculate Nadia’s and Peter’s total cost.
• Keep guessing until their total cost is the same.

Guess 50 miles

Check- $50+$0.40(50)= $70 $70+$0.30(50)= $85 too small

Guess 60 miles

Check- $50+$0.40(60)= $74 $70+$0.30(60)= $88 too small

• Notice that for an increase of 10 miles, the difference between total costs fell from $15 to $14.
• To get the difference to zero, we should try increasing the mileage by 140 miles.

Guess Check 200 miles

Check- $50+$0.40(200)= $130 $70+$0.30(200)= $130 correct

Check:

Nadia- $50+$0.40(200)=$130 Peter- $70+$0.30(200)=$130 correct

Review the Solution:

Since Nadia and Peter has the same total cost for rental, we can say that our method is correct.
We also check backward if the answer is correct and they have the same answer. Therefore, Nadia and
Peter each have to drive 200 miles to pay the same total cost for the rental.