QUIZ: A simple arithmetic puzzle

[Steve Navra]

A simple arithmetic puzzle

Teacher to the class:

The product of three brothers ages is 36.
Can you work out their ages?

No one seems able to,

So the first clue:

The sum of the brothers ages is equal to the house number opposite little Johnny Browns home.

Can you work out their ages??

Again the answer eludes,

So clue # 2:

The eldest brother plays the piano!

And presto the answer is evident.

So forum members, put your logical and lateral thinking caps on.

How old are the 3 brothers?????????

Regards,

Steve

 

[Andrew]

2, 2 & 9

 

[Steve Navra]

Grief Andrew,

And so quick off the mark!

Without saying more, perhaps some others can have a go to see how you reached this brilliant conclusion.

Regards,

Steve

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

2, 3 & 6 ???

 

[Steve Navra]

Hrrrrrrmph!

Maybe try it in binary

 

[Nicholas H]

ok lets see 36 .. that has in product of primes is 36 = 2 * 2 * 3 * 3

you have to have 1 who is older ..
so 3*3 = 9, 2, 2
or 3*2 = 6, 2, 3
or 2*2 = 4, 3, 3

hmmm... which one out of those 3 I do not know

 

[Lotana]

There are 8 possible combinations (the sum of the ages is in brackets):

1,1,36 (38)
1,2,18 (21)
1,3,12 (16)
1,4,9 (14)
1,6,6 (13)
2,2,9 (13)
2,3,6 (11)
3,3,4 (10)


Note that all the sums are different, except 2 combinations. Because it was not enough to know the sum to find out the ages, it must be one of these two, (1,6,6) or (2,2,9).

Out of them, the latter is the answer because it has only 1 elder brother.

Say cheese

Lotana

 

[Steve Navra]

Cheese!

Andrew first in with the correct answer

And Lotana with the actual calculation

Good stuff, and I will say CHEESE as often as you want!

Regards,

Steve