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A better deal (Posted on 2002-06-21) Difficulty: 2 of 5
Yoric the worker came to a fair looking for a job.

There, Arley, an artisan, offered him the following terms:

"I wil pay you once every 67 days, one gold coin for a day of work, minus five coins for upkeep - a total of 62 coins in all!"

Suddenly a competing artisan named Bentley interrupted:

"Don't work for Arley, come work for me instead. I will also give you one coin a day, minus five for upkeep, but I will pay you every 57 days instead of 67. That's right, stick with me, and you'll get your 52 coins a whole ten days faster!"

Even though he wasn't very good at math, Yoric was a smart fellow and quickly figured out who was offering a better deal. Can you do it without using a calculator or performing complex fractional arithmetics?

See The Solution Submitted by vohonam    
Rating: 2.6500 (20 votes)

Comments: ( Back to comment list | You must be logged in to post comments.)
re: ok... | Comment 11 of 14 |
(In reply to ok... by lalaine)

Actually the real-world answer depends on the current interest rates in Yorrick's economy.  The time-value of money is not being factored in here.

If, given prevailing market conditions, Yorrick could take his 52 coins and invest them for 10 days such that on the 67th day he were left with more than Arley's 62 coins, then Bentley's offer would be more profitable.

Granted, this would require a guaranteed annual return of approximately 647.7%... but hey, in a fictional world, anything's possible.  :)


  Posted by John on 2005-01-24 19:39:11
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