Shingles and Apples
There is an old story of a trader who put into Philadelphia with a boat load
of shingles, some which had been damaged in passage. He was asked by a Quaker
merchant what the price was for the shingles.
"They are $10 a bundle," he replied, "if you choose the the bundles and $5
a bundle if I choose them."
The merchant thought for a minute and said, "Captain, I will buy your whole
cargo, and you can choose the bundles."
Here is a problem which involves a similar principle. A man had an apple
stand and sold his larger apples at 3 for a dollar and his smaller apples
at 5 for a dollar. When he had just 30 apples of each size left to sell,
he asked his son to watch the stand while he had lunch. When he came back
from lunch the apples were all gone and the son gave his father $15. The
father questioned his son. "You should have received $10 for the large apples
and $6 for the 30 small apples, making $16 dollars in all." The son looked
surprized. "I am sure I gave you all the money I received and I counted the
change most carefully. It was difficult to manage without you here, and as
there were an equal number of each sized apple left, I sold them all at the
average price of 4 for $1. Four goes into 60 15 times so I am sure $15 is
correct."
Where did the $1 go?
I give up, show me the Answer
Discuss this and other puzzles here.
Copyright Erik Oosterwal - 2004
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