| |
On Thu, 4 Sep 2003, Kirby warden wrote:
> how do you do the math for the green puzzle clue?
Well, you've got Dan, Mike, and Ben. Call their ages d, m, and b. Each
statement they give translates easily into an equation (e.g., "I'm Mike.
I'm 14 years younger than Ben" => m=b-14), so you have a system of three
equations in three unknowns, and Bob's your uncle.
(Note: anyone who represents the system as 3x4 matrix and uses Gaussian
elimination needs to be sent to linear algebra detox stat. The systems in
the game simply beg to be solved using straightforward substitution---for
example
m=b-14
d=2m
b=d-4
positively screams "substitute the first equation into the second to get
d=2(b-14)=2b-28, then solve the third equation for d to get d=b+4, and
since d=d, 2b-28=b+4 => b=32" (and if you go on to solve for d and m after
finding b, you really need to reread the instructions for the puzzle).)
--
TWS Garrison
http://www.math.purdue.edu/~tgarriso/
Remove capital letters in address for direct reply.
|
|
Message has 2 Replies:
Message is in Reply To:
13 Messages in This Thread:
   
 
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
This Message and its Replies on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
