Showing posts with label strawberry ice cream. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Strawberry Ice Cream
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A man walks into a bar, orders a drink, and starts chatting with the bartender.
After a while, he learns that the bartender has three children. "How old are your children?" he asks.
"Well," replies the bartender, "The product of their ages is 72."
The man thinks for a moment and then says, "That's not enough information."
"All right," continues the bartender. "If you go outside and look at the building number posted over the door to the bar, you'll see the sum of the ages."
The man steps outside, and after a few moments he reenters and declares, "Still not enough!"
The bartender smiles and says, "My youngest just loves strawberry ice cream."
How old are the children?
After a while, he learns that the bartender has three children. "How old are your children?" he asks.
"Well," replies the bartender, "The product of their ages is 72."
The man thinks for a moment and then says, "That's not enough information."
"All right," continues the bartender. "If you go outside and look at the building number posted over the door to the bar, you'll see the sum of the ages."
The man steps outside, and after a few moments he reenters and declares, "Still not enough!"
The bartender smiles and says, "My youngest just loves strawberry ice cream."
How old are the children?
Strawberry Ice Cream Puzzle Solution
First, determine all the ways that three ages can multiply together to get 72:- 72 1 1 (quite a feat for the bartender)
- 36 2 1
- 24 3 1
- 18 4 1
- 18 2 2
- 12 6 1
- 12 3 2
- 9 4 2
- 9 8 1
- 8 3 3
- 6 6 2
- 6 4 3
So the bartender tells him where to find the sum of the ages--the man now knows the sum even though we don't. Yet he still insists that there isn't enough info. This must mean that there are two permutations with the same sum; otherwise the man could have easily deduced the ages.
The only pair of permutations with the same sum are 8 3 3 and 6 6 2, which both add up to 14 (the bar's address). Now the bartender mentions his "youngest"--telling us that there is one child who is younger than the other two. This is impossible with 8 3 3--there are two 3 year olds. Therefore the ages of the children are 6, 6, and 2.
Pedants have objected that the problem is insoluble because there could be a youngest between two three year olds (even twins are not born exactly at the same time). However, the word "age" is frequently used to denote the number of years since birth. For example, I am the same age as my wife, even though technically she is a few months older than I am. And using the word "youngest" to mean "of lesser age" is also in keeping with common parlance. So I think the solution is fine as stated.
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