Amusements in Mathematics | Page 4

three times as
much as a daughter, and that every daughter should have twice as much as their mother.
What was the widow's share?
8.--INDISCRIMINATE CHARITY.
A charitable gentleman, on his way home one night, was appealed to by three needy
persons in succession for assistance. To the first person he gave one penny more than half
the money he had in his pocket; to the second person he gave twopence more than half
the money he then had in his pocket; and to the third person he handed over threepence
more than half of what he had left. On entering his house he had only one penny in his
pocket. Now, can you say exactly how much money that gentleman had on him when he
started for home?
9.--THE TWO AEROPLANES.
A man recently bought two aeroplanes, but afterwards found that they would not answer
the purpose for which he wanted them. So he sold them for £600 each, making a loss of
20 per cent. on one machine and a profit of 20 per cent. on the other. Did he make a profit
on the whole transaction, or a loss? And how much?
10.--BUYING PRESENTS.
"Whom do you think I met in town last week, Brother William?" said Uncle Benjamin.
"That old skinflint Jorkins. His family had been taking him around buying Christmas
presents. He said to me, 'Why cannot the government abolish Christmas, and make the
giving of presents punishable by law? I came out this morning with a certain amount of
money in my pocket, and I find I have spent just half of it. In fact, if you will believe me,
I take home just as many shillings as I had pounds, and half as many pounds as I had
shillings. It is monstrous!'" Can you say exactly how much money Jorkins had spent on
those presents?
11.--THE CYCLISTS' FEAST.
'Twas last Bank Holiday, so I've been told, Some cyclists rode abroad in glorious weather.
Resting at noon within a tavern old, They all agreed to have a feast together. "Put it all in
one bill, mine host," they said, "For every man an equal share will pay." The bill was
promptly on the table laid, And four pounds was the reckoning that day. But, sad to state,
when they prepared to square, 'Twas found that two had sneaked outside and fled. So, for
two shillings more than his due share Each honest man who had remained was bled. They
settled later with those rogues, no doubt. How many were they when they first set out?

12.--A QUEER THING IN MONEY.
It will be found that £66, 6s. 6d. equals 15,918 pence. Now, the four 6's added together
make 24, and the figures in 15,918 also add to 24. It is a curious fact that there is only
one other sum of money, in pounds, shillings, and pence (all similarly repetitions of one
figure), of which the digits shall add up the same as the digits of the amount in pence.
What is the other sum of money?
13.--A NEW MONEY PUZZLE.
The largest sum of money that can be written in pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings,
using each of the nine digits once and only once, is £98,765, 4s. 3½d. Now, try to
discover the smallest sum of money that can be written down under precisely the same
conditions. There must be some value given for each denomination--pounds, shillings,
pence, and farthings--and the nought may not be used. It requires just a little judgment
and thought.
14.--SQUARE MONEY.
"This is queer," said McCrank to his friend. "Twopence added to twopence is fourpence,
and twopence multiplied by twopence is also fourpence." Of course, he was wrong in
thinking you can multiply money by money. The multiplier must be regarded as an
abstract number. It is true that two feet multiplied by two feet will make four square feet.
Similarly, two pence multiplied by two pence will produce four square pence! And it will
perplex the reader to say what a "square penny" is. But we will assume for the purposes
of our puzzle that twopence multiplied by twopence is fourpence. Now, what two
amounts of money will produce the next smallest possible result, the same in both cases,
when added or multiplied in this manner? The two amounts need not be alike, but they
must be those that can be paid in current coins of the realm.
15.--POCKET MONEY.
What is the largest sum of money--all in current silver coins and no four-shilling
piece--that I could have in my pocket without being able to give change for a
half-sovereign?
16.--THE MILLIONAIRE'S PERPLEXITY.
Mr. Morgan G. Bloomgarten, the millionaire, known in the States as the Clam King, had,
for his sins, more money than he knew what