bonanova Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 On the grave of Diophantes, the Alexandrian mathematician, the following inscription appears: This stone marks the grave of Diophantes. If you solve this riddle, you will know his age. He spent one-sixth of his life as a child, Then one-twelfth as a youth. He was married for one-seventh of his life. Five years after he married, his son was born. Fate overtook his beloved child; he died When he was half the age of his father. Four more years did the father live Before reaching the end of this life. How long did Diophantes live? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 On the grave of Diophantes, the Alexandrian mathematician, the following inscription appears: This stone marks the grave of Diophantes. If you solve this riddle, you will know his age. He spent one-sixth of his life as a child, Then one-twelfth as a youth. He was married for one-seventh of his life. Five years after he married, his son was born. Fate overtook his beloved child; he died When he was half the age of his father. Four more years did the father live Before reaching the end of this life. How long did Diophantes live? I'm guessing 60, 10 as a child, 5 as a youth ("manhood" came earlier in those days). 6*10=60, 12*5=60, and I did not bother with the rest since it fits so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 he died at 36...will add details soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 ||------+------+---+---------------------+-----------------|| His life = X 1/6 1/12 5 X/2 4 how long he was married is not relevant :-) unless i am missing that he did not get married at the end of youth which will lead to another calculation altogether which means X = 36 by maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 ||------+------+---+---------------------+-----------------|| His life = X 1/6 1/12 5 X/2 4 how long he was married is not relevant :-) unless i am missing that he did not get married at the end of youth which will lead to another calculation altogether which means X = 36 by maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 ||------+------+---+---------------------+-----------------|| His life = X 1/6 1/12 5 X/2 4 how long he was married is not relevant :-) unless i am missing that he did not get married at the end of youth which will lead to another calculation altogether which means X = 36 by maths. i know i replied but most probably it seems an incorrect answer ...what we need to know more is .."when did his wife died". or "Which part of his life he got married" not so straightforward as it seems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I recommend a slight correction in puzzle. It should read "he got married after 1/7th of his life".... which would lead us to calculate his age to be 84 !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) On the grave of Diophantes, the Alexandrian mathematician, the following inscription appears: This stone marks the grave of Diophantes. If you solve this riddle, you will know his age. He spent one-sixth of his life as a child, Then one-twelfth as a youth. He was married for one-seventh of his life. Five years after he married, his son was born. Fate overtook his beloved child; he died When he was half the age of his father. Four more years did the father live Before reaching the end of this life. How long did Diophantes live? He lived to be 84 years old? Since he spent 1/6, 1/12, and 1/7 of his life doing various things, I am going to assume that his final age is divisible by all three. 84 is the LCM of 12 and 7, and I doubt he reached the age of 168 (or beyond!) Does the math work? child = 84/6 = 14 youth = 84/12 = 7 so now he is 21. Next is the tricky bit, was he married for 1/7 of his life and then had the baby? This doesn't make sense, but the math seems to work out better. married = 12 years waiting for baby? = 5 years. At this point he is 38 and the baby is 0. When he is 76 the baby is 38, or 1/2 his age. However, adding 4 to this doesn't get to 84. However if you assume that the age at which the son dies is 1/2 the age at which dad dies, then the son dies at 42 - at which point Diophantes is 80. Four years after junior dies, the dad kicks it at 84. QED. Sort of. Edited March 5, 2009 by xucam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 5, 2009 Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 I don't think that OP needs a correction First I assumed that he stood married till end of his life, but after calculation, I saw that this is impossible. After reading OP again, I noticed that he may not be married to death. So I calculated again and found that he stood married for only 12 years and answer is 84. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted March 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2009 Already posted with name spelled differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
bonanova
On the grave of Diophantes, the Alexandrian mathematician, the following inscription appears:
This stone marks the grave of Diophantes. If you solve this riddle, you will know his age.
He spent one-sixth of his life as a child, Then one-twelfth as a youth.
He was married for one-seventh of his life. Five years after he married, his son was born.
Fate overtook his beloved child; he died When he was half the age of his father.
Four more years did the father live Before reaching the end of this life.
How long did Diophantes live?
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