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Geek Culture / Answer this math question

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Phaelax
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Posted: 24th May 2013 10:49
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It's really a simple problem, simple enough I thought it might have a trick to it. Like, "oh did you count the bus driver?". But it's nothing like that, it's a simple word problem. I posted this on FB and so far I'm quite disappointed at the level of math skills I've seen. So if some of you can get the right answer it might help restore my faith in the future.


There are 7 girls in a bus.
Each girl has 7 backpacks.
In each backpack, there are 7 big cats.
For every big cat there are 7 little cats.

Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

"You're all wrong. You're all idiots." ~Fluffy Rabbit
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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 24th May 2013 10:55 Edited at: 24th May 2013 10:56
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1386 legs

What answers were other people giving you?

http://www.google.com/
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Van B
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:24
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9618 Legs?

I got a fever, and the only prescription, is more memes.
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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:28 Edited at: 24th May 2013 11:35
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Legs from little cats:

7*7*7*7*4

Legs from big cats:

7*7*7*4

Legs from girls:

7*2

Total legs:

(7^4*4)+(7^3*4)+(7*2)=9604+1372+14=10990 legs


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Van B
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:31
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Ahh, I forgot the big cats legs

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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:33 Edited at: 24th May 2013 11:35
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Ah, somehow I screwed up adding 9604+1372+14. Well anyway, 10990 it is.

Plot twist: Cats don't have 4 legs but instead have 4 arms.

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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:36
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That is a large number of legs for a bus... PETA might get involved, what with all these cats in bags in buses.


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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 24th May 2013 11:42 Edited at: 24th May 2013 11:43
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Wait...

Number of small cats=49

Number of large cats=7

Total number of cats=56

Number of cat legs=224

Number of human legs=14

Total number of legs=238

:/

Oooh disregard that/stupid idiot me

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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:25
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I am sorry, but the real answer is: 14 legs. You see, cats do have paws.

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Sergey K
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:26
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14 legs in the bus, and 196 legs in the backpacks.

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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:31 Edited at: 24th May 2013 12:35
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- How many bicycles can you build from 123 big and 62 small wheels?
- 0. You can't build a bicycle with only wheels.
© Zadornov

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:42
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Aha! 10990.

It seems more like it's just something for misdirection. You can use dimensional analysis to make sure you don't mess anything up;

7 bigcats/backpack, 7 smallcats/bigcats, 7 backpacks/girl, 7 girls, multiplying them together after unit cancellation you get 7^4 smallcats. Multiplying the first two gives 7^3 bigcats. Then once you have that it's straightforward multiplying by 4 or 2 and adding to get the legs. But the dimensional analysis helps if you make a mistake in, "oh crap I ignored the girls and only thought of the backpacks" etc. (Like, the, "WTH I should be able to get this" bring out the big guns argument ending tool.)

(Having 8*7^3 cats on a bus isn't normal, but on math it is.)


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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:43
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Quote: "You can't build a bicycle with only wheels."

that sounds like a challenge


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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 12:48
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Since when cat's have legs?



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ShellfishGames
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Posted: 24th May 2013 13:02
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I got 10990 as well. So is it correct?

Regarding the cats-having-legs-or-not-situation, apparently this problem has already been solved by a few intelligent people on yahoo answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081028224524AAZhiOJ
In case we believe what the experts say, cats do indeed have four legs.

However, the question remains whether the small cats are in the bus as well. "For every big cat there are 7 little cats." - the lack of information regarding the little cats' whereabouts is rather disturbing. Where are those cats? In the backpacks? Somewhere else in the bus? In China? On the moon? We'll never know...

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Benjamin
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Posted: 24th May 2013 13:08
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Quote: "Since when cat's have legs?"


You must have some pretty weird cats where you live.

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Dark Java Dude 64
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Posted: 24th May 2013 13:36
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He has levitating cats. Legs are far less efficient, you see.

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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 14:00 Edited at: 24th May 2013 14:02
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Cats have paws.
Quote: "A paw is the soft foot of a mammal, generally a quadruped, that has claws or nails."


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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 14:05
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Quote: "Cats have paws."


Yes they do, and those paws are attached to legs...


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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 15:42
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Maybe backpack have legs too?

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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 16:30
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Quote: "Maybe backpack have legs too?"


Albeit a different sort of leg, yes they do


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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:03 Edited at: 24th May 2013 17:06
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Also, girls do have backpacks, but are those backpacks INSIDE the bus? They may be outside of the bus therefore not taken in count!

edit: gramarr

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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:11
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Quote: "Also, girls do have backpacks, but are those backpacks INSIDE the bus? They may be outside of the bus therefore not taken in count!
"


Read the question carefully, all bags are stored in an upright position in the overhead lockers as to not impede the exits


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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:16
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Quote: "all bags are stored in an upright position in the overhead lockers"

It just don't fit!

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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:20
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Quote: "It just don't fit!"


I don't see how you can claim this, nowhere does it state the size of the bus


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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:31
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When something is not said, we can use default all-known size.

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Melancholic
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Posted: 24th May 2013 17:34
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That's a mighty large assumption your making...


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Libervurto
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Posted: 24th May 2013 18:34
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A leg is defined as a weight-bearing and locomotive structure. Cats have four legs, while octopuses have only two! Their other six appendages are categorized as arms since they are not used for locomotion when "walking" across the seabed.

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Chris Tate
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Posted: 24th May 2013 20:12
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Hehe

There has to be 2758 legs on that bus

(assuming that those small cats are actually in the bus)

14 Cats per backpack
49 backpacks in total
----------------------
49 * 14 = 686 cats
---------------------
686 * 4 = 2744 cat legs
7 girls = 14 Legs
---------------------

TOTAL: 2758

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ShellfishGames
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Posted: 24th May 2013 20:36
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Aren't there 7 big and 49 small cats in each backpack, i.e. 56 cats per backpack -> 56*49 = 2744 cats = 10976 cat legs?

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Phaelax
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Posted: 24th May 2013 20:56
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Quote: "Aren't there 7 big and 49 small cats in each backpack, i.e. 56 cats per backpack -> 56*49 = 2744 cats = 10976 cat legs?"

Don't forgot about the 7 girls.

Answer is 10,990.


7 girls each with 7 backpacks. That's 49 backpacks in total. Each one of those has 7 large cats, so that's 49*7 = 343 large cats. For every large cat there are 7 small cats, so 343*7 = 2401. That makes 2744 total cats, or 10976 cat legs. Add 14 more for the 7 girls and you end up with 10990.

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ionstream
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Posted: 24th May 2013 21:08
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Whenever I see a question like this, I always think there will be some sort of trick to it like "what about the bus driver's legs" or "I never said the big cats were ON the bus" but it's refreshing to see that this had none of that.

There are eighty billion legs on the bus because it's full of spiders!

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Chris Tate
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Posted: 24th May 2013 23:43
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Quote: "For every big cat"

Quote: "Aren't there 7 big and 49 small cats in each backpack,"

Doh! I got that part wrong.

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mr Handy
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Posted: 24th May 2013 23:47
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Quote: "There are eighty billion legs on the bus because it's full of spiders!"

I knew that there a lots of spiders inside girl's mind!!!

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