Maths teaser
- Thread starter Rodrat
- Start date
gingermrkettle
Deep vein trombonist
288
merlin
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Only one of these two statements can be true.
JensenHealey
pfm Member
You missed a bit. Twice as many non-fiction as fiction, AFTER 120 Fiction and 24 Non fiction had been borrowed.
Dowser
Learning to bodge again..
Beat me to it. Buggered if I could work out the formula though - I just used some examples until I got close - 9 attempts - DOH
jtrade
pfm Member
merlin
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No I didn't IMO. "A Library Contains" is in the present. It therefore contains that ratio of books right now - regardless of what is out on loan.
"In the library are twice as many non fiction as fiction books." is also in the present tense. Only one can be correct.
If the first sentence had read "A library contains...when full" then I would not have needed to suggest this.
JensenHealey
pfm Member
I agree with 288
merlin
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Not in the slightest. If someone is going to post a mathematical teaser then they should at least get the premises right.
gingermrkettle
Deep vein trombonist
Dowser
Learning to bodge again..
But you didn't quote the original sentences, you missed, ""Left in the library are twice as many non fiction as fiction books." (96 & 48 in this instance). I understood it perfectly - I just think you are in the wrong thread
jtrade
pfm Member
Not in the slightest. If someone is going to post a mathematical teaser then they should at least get the premises right.
Haha... this is SO pfm...
... a library of x books is quite likely in its role as a library to lend a certain quantity such that the number of books remaining at any one time is less than x... but that wasn't the point of the maths teaser posed in this thread, was it, which was to work out a calculation with either an elegant bit of algebra (gingermykettle) or brute force (Dowser) ?
Dowser
Learning to bodge again..
hifilover1979
Bigger than you...
BenS
pfm Member
I’m probably being stupid, but... if there are 288 books in total and 144 have been lent out, that means that there are still 144 books in the library. If twice as many of these are non fiction as are fiction that means there must be 96 non fiction books, add to these the 24 that are on loan you get 120 nf books. If there are 3 times as many fiction as nf in total then 360 fiction books and 480 in total. Which is clearly wrong. What am I missing?
merlin
Avatar changed - Town names deemed offensive.
But you didn't quote the original sentences, you missed, ""Left in the library are twice as many non fiction as fiction books." (96 & 48 in this instance). I understood it perfectly - I just think you are in the wrong thread
You miss the point Dowser. The initial premise is that "A library contains 3 times as many fiction as non fiction books". That means, the library has that ratio of books. Now. Not usually or originally or even when full. Now.
By coincidence, Maths and English Language are the only two exams I ever passed. I got expelled before I could take the rest
droodzilla
pfm Member
I think "fiction" and "non-fiction" are transposed in the penultimate sentence.
If you swap them round, the answer is 288 (216 fiction + 72 non-fiction), as has already been pointed out.
As stated, the answer is 864/5 = 172.8 (648/5 fiction + 216/5 non-fiction) which makes no sense.
If you swap them round, the answer is 288 (216 fiction + 72 non-fiction), as has already been pointed out.
As stated, the answer is 864/5 = 172.8 (648/5 fiction + 216/5 non-fiction) which makes no sense.