July 31st, 2003, 09:07 AM
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Major General
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,174
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Re: Jokes and Riddles Centre
Quote:
Originally posted by Slick:
A ship is twice as old as its boiler was when the ship was as old as the boiler is. The sum of their ages is 49 years. How old is the ship and how old is the boiler?
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Hmm, does their refer to all three listed objects? If so...
The original boiler might have aged with the ship, even though it was removed. Thus, we have
Ship = BoilerA
2 * BoilerB = Ship
Ship + BoilerA + BoilerB = 49
=> 2 * BoilerB + 2 * BoilerB + BoilerB = 5 * BoilerB = 49
=> BoilerB = 49/5
=> BoilerA = 2 * 49/5
=> Ship = 2 * 49/5
Ship: 17 and 3/5 years old
Current Boiler: 9 and 4/5 years old
What if it didn't?
Quote:
Originally posted by Slick:
A ship is twice as old as its boiler was when the ship was as old as the boiler is. The sum of their ages is 49 years. How old is the ship and how old is the boiler?
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Ship = 2 * BoilerA
BoilerB = BoilerA
Ship + BoilerA + BoilerB = 49
=> 5 * BoilerB = 49
=> BoilerB = 9.8 years,
=> BoilerA = 9.8 years,
=> Ship = 19.6 years.
Hmm, still don't like them.
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Of course, by the time I finish this post, it will already be obsolete. C'est la vie.
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