Problem 9 (The Smith Family)
First of all, there aren't many possibilities for Mr. Smith whose age is a perfect square. They are 25, 36, 49, 64, and maybe (but highly unlikely) 81. (A young age of 16 is not feasible either, but biologically possible). We take each case individually:

Father's Age	Mother's Age	Daugher's Age	Son's Age
16	6	7	6
25	10	7	1
36	18	9	9
49	36	13	9
64	24	10	6
81	8	9	8

The only case that makes any (biological or legal) sense is the case when the father is 49, the mother 36, daughter 13, and the son 9. In all other cases, the mother is either too young to have children, younger than the daughter,or too young to be legally married.

Last modified on Friday, February 12, 1999