One third of twelve if you divide
By just one fifth of seven,
The true result (correctly tried)
Exactly is eleven.

How is this possible?

1. Express the numerals in words.
2. In each of the words, separate the letters that also serve as a Roman Numeral.
3. Determine the value of the roman Numerals inclusive of each word.

Thus,
TWELVE includes the roman numerals LV, using only one third of the total letters,  having the value 55.
SEVEN includes the Roman Numeral V, using one fifth of the total letters,   having the value 5.

Consequently,
(TWELVE/3)/(SEVEN/5) --> LV/V = 55/5 = 11

Edited on October 14, 2009, 3:58 am

Posted by K Sengupta on 2008-03-12 05:54:20