Who can solve this problem?

[Gabrielles blades]

Assumptions, 1 yr old is considered a baby not a young kid, and teenager is too old to be considered a kid.

1x4x9 sum 14 --impossible
1x3x12 sum 16 --impossible
1x2x18 sum 21 --impossible
1x6x6 sum 13 --impossible
3x3x4 sum 10 --possible w/child prodegy
3x2x6 sum 11 --possible

So we have a 50/50 chance of getting it right
as was mentioned before, any kid can play a violin, and in all of the cases the children will always have a 'oldest' since even in the case of twins one would come seconds before the other.

the house number is different for each of the ways, so the teacher should have figured it out at the 2nd clue.

[Legolas]

Euh Vasky, why does he need the third clue? Hasn't he seen the children or is he simply unable to spot the difference between a 2 year old and a 6 year old? Math teachers these days...

[Vaskez]

Originally posted by Legolas: Euh Vasky, why does he need the third clue? Hasn't he seen the children or is he simply unable to spot the difference between a 2 year old and a 6 year old? Math teachers these days...

LOL, try solving the problem and you'll see why he needs it. I'm afraid he's not the stupid one at the moment. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Gabrielles I see how you decided on which were impossible but you are not using maths or logic much. You didn't even LIST the combination which is the correct answer. Try finding the rest of the possible age combinations that give a product of 36. Another clue is that you don't actually need to assume that an 18 year old is not a kid - the solution still works if you don't assume anything about how kids are classed based on age.

[ 09-07-2003, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

[Legolas]

I have it solved already, that is why I was wondering. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
If the teacher had seen the children and been any good at estimating ages (and there are very few people who can't tell the difference between 2 year olds and 6 year olds) then he wouldn't have need of the third hint. We would since we don't have that additional bit of information.

[Zuvio]

At this moment I am wondering how or why there is only one answer possible. Why aren't there many answers?

[Vaskez]

Legolas if you solve the problem CORRECTLY you'll probably see why the 3rd clue is needed
Zuvio - trust me, there is only one possible answer that fits the clues in the question. Obviously the ages of the kids are in years (nothing more accurate).

Hmm maybe I should just post the solution and put people out of their misery?

I have had quite a few PMs but still only Grojlach and Seraph managed to solve it!

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Vaskez: Legolas if you solve the problem CORRECTLY you'll probably see why the 3rd clue is needed

No, I have to agree with Legolas. WE definitely need the clue, but if he did, obviously he was very poor at judging ages. Might have been better if the teacher was guessing their ages before he saw them

Here's a hint. Figure out what the last clue must mean and come up with the only answer it CAN'T be from that. Then use that answer to get the real answer from the second clue

[Vaskez]

Yeah ok I see your point, well maybe he was guessing their ages before he saw them? Who said he saw them? I just said that the friend had 3 kids and the teacher asked how old they were. Doesn't say anything about him seeing them [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Hehe I've edited the original question now...stop being so bloody nitpicky you lot! It's supposed to be a problem that can be worked out through logic not by judging ages! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 09-07-2003, 06:38 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ]

[Melusine]

Aww Vasky... it's so cute to see you go through all that trouble just to boost your popularity by having all those people PM you!
(or maybe I'm just feeling too stupid for your question and decided to distract attention from that fact.... )

[Vaskez]

Originally posted by Melusine: Aww Vasky... it's so cute to see you go through all that trouble just to boost your popularity by having all those people PM you! (or maybe I'm just feeling too stupid for your question and decided to distract attention from that fact.... )

Hmmm maybe I just didn't wanna spoil the answer for people by getting everyone to post their solution here? [img]tongue.gif[/img] I know I didn't want any help when I was solving this question. I think the reason for your post was the sentence in brackets