You are sent to the market by your father with 800 dollars, and told to buy 100 animals. When you arrive at the market, you find out that pigs cost 8 dollars each, so it would be easy to follow your father's instructions.

However, you see that there are only 99 pigs for sale. The only other animals there are chickens for 1 dollar each, and cows for 80 dollars each.

If there are enough chickens and cows for you to buy as many as you wanted, how can you end up buying 100 animals using exactly 800 dollars?

(In reply to re: another salution by Timothy Bard)

I was trying to figure out how he came up with that one too.  He obviously did not miss the fact that there had to be 100 animals as he stated it in his solution.  Maybe he got in trouble with his dad because he stopped to catch 72 fish on the way home.

I personally would buy 100 chickens and pocket $700.  I am sure I am not the first one to think of that either.  Dad might figure it out though, and of course it does not fit the letter of the problem, but at a time where I can buy cows for $80, that $700 would go along way and I may not have to see Dad anymore.  And then if I ran out of money I coukd always count on the prodigal son thing.

Posted by john on 2005-06-13 21:07:45