115 replies to this topic

[Emapher]

no,
1/3 (of what is not in the ground) is under water <--- that is your error. its 1/3 of the ENTIRE pole not just whats out of the ground.

{------------------------}[----------------]|--------| {ground} [water] |air| one - = 1ft

1/2 = 3/6
1/3 = 2/6
+________
5/6

meaning 1/6 = 8ft
8x6 = 48 ft.

**But what makes you assume that it is 1/3 of the entire pole? The problem states: "One half of the pole is in the ground, another one third is covered by water and eight feet is out of the water."

Another- would imply 'in addition to' or 'along with' So why would one assume that this reffering to a fraction of the entirety?

Please correct me if im wrong!

[Bigdeano1]

I'm thinking 12' is correct also. That would leave 6' in the ground 4' in the water and 2' in the air.The 6' in the ground and the 2' in the air are both out of the water and 4' is 1/3 of the total 12' .

[Cuitarded]

The answer is 48.
As the problem states, 1/2 (or 3/6) of the pole is in the ground, another 1/3 (or 2/6) of the ENTIRE LENGTH is in the water, the remainder, being 1/6, is 8 feet. 8X6 = 48.

If you assumed that the 1/3 is considering only the part that is NOT in the ground you would receive a different answer, but the problem does not say that.

It is funny to watch you all argue over such a simple calculation. This isn't really much of a brain teaser so much as it is a word problem.

12 is not the answer: 1/2 of 12 is 6. How can a the part of the pole, which is 8 feet long, be LONGER than the remaining piece of pole (6ft)? Check your answers to make sure they make sense before answering....

I hope none of you are engineers, because in the real world you don't get to argue over a problem statement.

[Flight]

I'm with Emapher on this one. the word "another" dictates that the 1/3 covered by water does not include the length of the pole in the ground. if.. if.. the original question had left out that word, then you would be correct. i.e. 1/2 is in the ground, 1/3 is under water.

but when it was worded like 1/2 is in the ground, another 1/3 is under water.. it takes on a different meaning.

The answer.. as worded in the original question, is 24 feet.

[Mekal]

you know you could just change the denominator of 1/2 and 1/3 to 3/6 and 2/6 which are equivlent fractions, then just find whats left which is 1/6 and then multiply be 8
hears an example
1/2=3/6
1/3=2/6
3/6-2/6= 1/6
1/6=8ft.
8*6=48ft

[Ciahra]

There is a pole in a lake. One half of the pole is in the ground, another one third is covered by water and eight feet is out of the water. What is the total length of the pole in feet?


The answer is 24 feet. Don't worry about the half of the pole in the ground just yet. Of the half of the pole NOT in the ground, two thirds are out of the water, which is 8 feet, making the one third covered by water 4 feet. Four plus eight equals twelve. Therefore, the length of the pole NOT in the ground is 12 feet, and since half of the pole is in the ground, the length of the pole is 24 feet.

[lovaan]

The pole is 12'.

It states that 8' is out of the water which should include the half that's on the ground.

So if 4'(12'/3') is in the water the pole is 12' and for the 8' that's out of the water... half of 12' is on the ground so 6' and the remainder is 2'.

|\\\\\\\\\\\\| <- 12' total pole length

|\\\\--------| <- 4' the 3rd that's in the water

|------\\\\\\| <- 6' half of the 12' + |----\\------| <- 2' the remainder = |----\\\\\\\\| <- 8' that's out of the water

[SunnyKool]

1/2=3/6
+
1/3=2/6
5/6
6/6-5/6=1/6

1/6x=8
x=8(6)
x=48

[nef1213]

There is a pole in a lake. One half of the pole is in the ground, another one third is covered by water and eight feet is out of the water. What is the total length of the pole in feet?

it is 24

[ClattoVerataNicto]

3/6+2/6=5/6 8=1/6 6*8=