If 100 bushels of corn are distributed among 100 people in such a manner that each man has 3 bushels, each woman 2 and each child 1/2, how many men, women and children are there?

[barbarianoftheuniverse]

?

Now you see it's being faced with this kind of question at the tender age of 7 or 8 that made me the maths phobic I am today.

I cannot do it either but I blamed the music score/ hideous cacophony of MIHigh and came here to ask.

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200 children

10 men, 15 women, 20 children

Oh no, it doesn't work like that, does it!

No not equal numbers of each but a total number of 100 receivers.

3+2+1/2 times x = 100
so
5.5x=100
so
100/5.5 = 18 of each with 1 left over?

or 18 men, 18 women & 20 children?

Oh I don't know either

isnt it 100?
It says in the title 100 people.

oh doh, i see.
you have to divide.
tis very hard..

let me have a think...

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But none of them equate to 100 people Pruners. I thought that first aswell.

2 men
30 women
68 children

2 men with 3 bushells eac = 6
30 women x 2 bushells each = 60
68 children x .5 bushells = 34
Total - 100 people, 100 bushells.

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I also thought 100 - it says so in the question?

blu - how did you work it out? am sitting here with 2 equations, and cannot get any further...

Blu, how on earth did you do that?

(Bows down in homage)
This problem can from Problems for the Quickening of the Mind by Alcuin of York (ca. 775)

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no cos there are 100 people. I reckon...
76 children = 38 bushels
14 men = 42 bushels
10 women = 20 bushels

so 100 people & 100 bushels

ok so I type slow....but shows there is more than one correct answer...

Men 17 = 51 bushels
Women 5 =10 bushels
Children 78 = 39

Dh says there is not a single answer - it's a diophantine equation

I like these...give us another

I didn't do it according to an equation - I worked out that a woman and two children had the same number of bushells as one man, so had a guess proportionately, was out by 20, so reduced proportionately, and had it right by the 3rd try.

But as Dilbertina shows, there must be many variations?