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Mathematical Puzzles 



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Puzzle 77 



I recently asked my friend Alex to buy me some ribbon for my child's bonnet.

Alex went to the haberdashery shop for the required length, but accidentally swapped the feet and inches.

When I measured the resulting ribbon, I only had 5/8 of the length I required.

How much ribbon did I originally ask for?

Remember that there are 12 inches in a foot.

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Puzzle 78 



Our local scrap merchant had to travel to the county recycling plant, 60 miles away.

On the way there, the wagon was fully laden, so could only manage a steady 12mph.

On the way back, the wagon was much lighter and could manage a steady 16mph.

The wagon started with 24 gallons of fuel in the tank ready for the round trip, which was easily enough fuel as the wagon managed to travel 8 miles for each gallon.

Unfortunately, a piece of metal had pierced the fuel pipe at the very start of the trip, and the wagon began to lose 1 gallon of fuel every hour.

Luckily, it only lost fuel when moving and lost no fuel while unloading the scrap metal.

Were the 24 gallons enough for the entire round trip?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Puzzle 79 



I have three daughters and each has one brother.

How many children do I have?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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Puzzle 80 



I started a journey to my Aunt's yesterday with a full tank of gasoline, 10 gallons, but at that exact moment my gasoline tank sprang a leak.

I managed to drive 50 miles, in exactly one hour, before coming to a complete stop with an empty tank.

I know that the car manages 25 miles per gallon.

How quickly was I losing gasoline?

Puzzle Copyright © Kevin Stone

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