Guest Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 15 rubies lay in the sand. If you divide them by a third and add 15 more, how can you make 3 equal piles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 well i wasnt much good at math in school, but it sure seems to me that dividing 15 by 1/3, means dividing by 3... thats 5 in each pile, add 15 more thats five more is a total of 30. 15 +15 was 30 in my school. so again you divide 15 by 3 is still 5, thus 3 piles of 10. the only way i know of to get any other answer is to add a black hole or something. I hate to keep posting on this topic as it has already been answered many times, correctly and incorrectly, but I also hate to see the incorrectly side get the last word. Dividing by 1/3 is indeed the same as multiplying by 3 (Also, dividing by three is the same as multiplying by 1/3, dividing by 1/4 is the same as multiplying by 4, etc.). Like you said you were not good in math class so trust those above you who were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 15 rubies in the sand, divide by a third: 1/3rd of fifteen is 5, so 15 rubies divided by a third = 15 / 5 = 3. Add 15 more, 15 + 3 = 18 Divide into 3 equal piles. 3 / 18 = 6. each pile has 6 rubies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 I find it easier to say how many times does one third (1/3 or 0.333) go into 15. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 (edited) 15 rubies in the sand, divide by a third: 1/3rd of fifteen is 5, so 15 rubies divided by a third = 15 / 5 = 3. Add 15 more, 15 + 3 = 18 Divide into 3 equal piles. 3 / 18 = 6. each pile has 6 rubies. Just like they've been saying, a number divided by a fraction is actually a multiplication, why does everyone keep trying to prove wrong the ones who do know? Edited January 21, 2009 by Yaru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) That was really easy; I almost laughed when I read that. I figured it out in about a minute. It fooled people because you need to multiply when you want a small number. CRAZY! Edited January 23, 2009 by uisle345 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 +1..... no better yet +895,089!!! I like your sarcastic cynicism while dealing with topics most people can't comprehend! funny...lol...interpret math! HA It's kinda funny, I make that post, and there still seem to be people that don't understand the problem. Maybe they haven't read through the previous posts (look-like-an-idiot-fail). As for my sarcastic cynicism... I'm a mathematics/physics major (computer science/chemistry minor). I can't decide what I want to be when I grow up, so I throw myself into math. My own viewpoint is limited in the sense that, if you don't understand math, I don't understand you, or why you're still breathing. *shrug* While I realize that technically "divide by a third" means to multiply by three "Divide by a third" doesn't technically mean to multiply by three. It does mean to multiply by three. As for how one goes about that procedure, you buy twice the amount of jewelry your wife already has. (Yes, twice the amount. No, not three times the amount. Why? When you add three times the amount to the original, you get four times the amount of the original. Why? Original * three + original = 4*original. Substitute 1 in for original and you get: 1*3+1=4. So we want to buy twice the amount: Original *2 + original = 3 * original => 1*2+1=3, three times the original.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 I think I know how to explain. The question did not say that u cannot have extra rubies with you so that when you divide 15 by 1/3, you can use extra rubies to reach the number of rubies you need when 15 rubies is divided by 1/3. Thus, The way to make 3 equal piles = [15/(1/3)+15]/3 = 60/3 = 20 You will end up with 20 rubies in each pile. Settled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 3 piles of 20? a little too easy i think no offence though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 My only question: do people not use the spoiler tag for answers over here? I didn't have a chance to do the puzzle because I'd seen the answer by the time I started thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I see how you got your 60 Rubies divided into 3 sets of 20 (15 “divided by” 1/3= 45, 45 + 15 more =60, 60 divided into 3 equal shares is 20). However in the REAL WORLD how would you possibly divide 15 rubies by 1/3? Are you going to get your hammer & pick and chip away? The obvious trickery in the wording “divided by” knows people will assume it to mean “divide into” seeing as how dividing rubies by 1/3 means making a complete mess and day of chipping rubies. I much prefer the 3 piles of 10 answer 15/3= 3 sets of 5, 5 + 15= 30, 30/3= 3 equal shares of 10). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 I actually believe that multiple answers exist depending on your interpretation. Does "divide by a third" mean mathematically, or the actual third of 15? And it does say you only add 15 more rubies, so the division step (mathematically taken) can be considered 'theoretical', versus the actual 15+15. Congrats to those who thought outside the box of a basic math problem How would you interpret 'don't touch that, it's hot'? There are surely multiple answers. Define hot. When you say touch, do you mean lightly, just brushing it with my hand, or placing my palm squarely on its surface? Or maybe you would accept the obvious meaning inferred. It's hot, it will burn you. Same here. The question is obvious. Now. Next question. How would you interpret 'go jump off a cliff?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Morningstar Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) Please. This is a basic word riddle. You are supposed to think that it means divided by 3. It doesn't, it actually means divide by a third, or multiply by 3. 15 ÷ 3 = 5. 15 ÷ 1/3 = 45. You add 15, then you do divide by 3, and you get three piles of 20. Done. End of story. Edited January 3, 2012 by Morningstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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15 rubies lay in the sand. If you divide them by a third and add 15 more, how can you make 3 equal piles?
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