This book contains a rich selection of 190 brainteasersfrom math and logic problems to word games. All of them are extremely shortyou should be able to solve most of them in your head in just a minute or two! You wont need an advanced mathematical background to figure them out. All you need is an active intelligence and an inquisitive mind. Youll find the answers at the back of the bookbut dont look! So put on your thinking cap, get started, and some have brainteasin fun!
THE PUZZLES
When Peter and Bill ran a 100-meter race, Peter won by five meters. To give Bill a chance to win, they raced again, but this time Peter started five meters behind the starting line.
Each man ran the race at the same speed as in the first race.
What were the results of the second race?
Billy bought a pack of baseball cards and found a rookie card worth 10.00. He decided to sell it to his friend Tommy for 10.00. After the baseball season ended, the card was worth more and Billy bought it back from Tommy for 15.00. The following year, Billy sold the card for 8.00. Did Billy make or lose money in the end?
A teacher told her students, I have a bag of lollipops that I bought for 6.25. Can anyone figure out how many are in the bag and how much I paid for each one? The students looked puzzled and said theres no way anyone could know how many lollipops were in the bag.
The teacher said, The lollipops were all the same price. The number I bought is the same as the number of cents each cost. Can you figure out how much the lollipops cost?
Tricia, Kelly, Sasha, and Meredith started a book club that will meet once a month. Each month, one person hosts the party and another person brings the snacks. The host gets to pick the book and one of the other three has to bring the snacks. The responsibility of the host and the provider of snacks changes every month. How many months will it take until there has been every possible combination of host and snack-provider?
The Washington Metro system buys wheels for their rail cars for 200 per wheel. The wheels last for ten years and then they have a scrap value of 25 apiece. If rust-proofing treatment costing 50 a wheel is applied, each wheel will last fifteen years but will have no scrap value. In the long run, would it be more cost effective to rust-proof the wheels or not?
Ian and Adam wanted to go to Coney Island and were trying to figure out the fastest way to get there. Ian wanted to take the subway, but Adam noted that the subway only gets halfway to Coney Island and then you have to walk the rest of the way. Adam said the fastest way to get there would be by bicycle, but Ian still felt the subway would be faster. So Adam hopped on his bicycle and Ian took the subway. The subway was four times as fast as Adam on his bicycle, but Adam was twice as fast as Ians walking speed. Who got to Coney Island first?
After graduating from college, Alison went to work for a financial firm and Eric went to work for a law firm, both earning the same amount. Last year, Alison had a raise of ten percent and Eric had a drop in pay of ten percent. This year, Alison had a ten percent drop in pay and Eric had the ten percent raise. Who is making more now, or are they getting paid the same?
Both Aaron and Alexander are average marksmen and only hit their target fifty percent of the time. They decide to fight a duel in which they exchange alternate shots until one is hit. What are the odds that the man who shoots first will hit the other?
If Beth is as old as Bill will be when Trish is as old as Beth is now, who is the oldest?
A rowboat is floating in a swimming pool. Will dropping a marble in the pool or in the rowboat raise the level of the water in the pool higher?
Patti and John decided to play squash against each other, betting 10.00 on each game they played. Patti won three games and John won 50.00. How many games did they play?
On a digital clock, how many times in the first twelve-hour period are the numbers displayed in consecutive order (for example, 1:23)?
At the annual high-school baked goods sale, Mr. Ramsey sold sixty pies during the six-day sale. Each day, he sold four more pies than he did on the previous day. How many pies were sold on the first day?
A school was trying to raise money for a class trip by having students pay 1.00 to guess the number of jellybeansin a jar. Adam guessed there were forty-three, Bill guessed thirty-four, and Carl guessed forty-one. One person was off by six, another was off by three, and another was off by one. How many jellybeans were in the jar?
A banker had a scale that was only balanced when there were three gold bars on one side of the scale and one gold bar and a ten kilogram weight on the other side. Assuming all the gold bars weigh the same amount, how much does one gold bar weigh?
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