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Ultimate math trick question?

Red Baron Farms said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::D

a person who is "4" is actually between "4" and "4 years+364 days" due to always rounding down.

So the sister will be between "2" and "2 years 182 days" younger, being half your age.

wait til sis becomes 12, then you are between 14 and 14 years +182 days. always rounding down means you are 14 either way. This is your minimum age because 12 years 0 days is your sister's minimum age. :thumbsup:

But sis also has 364 days more before her next birthday. So depending when asked she could be up to 12 years 364 days, and the maximum you could be is 2 years 182 days older.

12 years 364 days + 2 years 182 days = 14 years 546 days = 15 years 181 days. Always rounding down means 15 years old is your maximum age.

QED
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"You really are just a simple creature, aren't you?" :rolleyes:
 
Red Baron Farms said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::D

a person who is "4" is actually between "4" and "4 years+364 days" due to always rounding down.

So the sister will be between "2" and "2 years 182 days" younger, being half your age.

wait til sis becomes 12, then you are between 14 and 14 years +182 days. always rounding down means you are 14 either way. This is your minimum age because 12 years 0 days is your sister's minimum age. :thumbsup:

But sis also has 364 days more before her next birthday. So depending when asked she could be up to 12 years 364 days, and the maximum you could be is 2 years 182 days older.

12 years 364 days + 2 years 182 days = 14 years 546 days = 15 years 181 days. Always rounding down means 15 years old is your maximum age.

QED
Click to expand...

You are mixing the colloquial meaning of age in years with the exact definition of "half". This is unreasonable. When someone says "half my age", they usually mean that persons rounded age is half of their rounded age.
 
I was right. The numbers I posted are correct. As I said, it depends on how you interpret "half my age".

You were born 1/1/1980. Your sister was born 1/2/1981. On 1/1/1984 you just turned 4. Your sister was 2 years old. She would turn 3 the next day. You were 4 and she was 2, so she was half your age in "years old". On 1/2/1993 she turned 12. You were 13.
 
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William Parcher said:
This was a winning answer.
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It was so close to answering I was screaming at my monitor, "He understands how to set up the problem, why doesn't he complete it!":duck::duck:

You had it!:thumbsup: all you had to do was then start the math and show the results!:D But then you didn't produce an answer!
 
I just figured out why my second set of numbers has a max of 16 when that doesn't make sense. I calculated number of days old/365, but I was including leap days in the dates. It should be a max age of just under 16 (one day I think).
 
Red Baron Farms said:
It was so close to answering I was screaming at my monitor, "He understands how to set up the problem, why doesn't he complete it!":duck::duck:

You had it!:thumbsup: all you had to do was then start the math and show the results!:D But then you didn't produce an answer!
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You intentionally misled me by saying that my answer of 14 was correct. Since you do not know their age you shouldn't have said correct. But if you had been honest you would have given away the whole game. You would have said "that might be the correct answer" if you were truly running the game as forthright.

We also don't know if the person would actually accept a multi-answer. Tell me my age. You are 14 or 15. Ok, which one?
 
That's it? That's the Ultimate Math Trick Question?

Somehow I get the feeling that Ultimate means something different to most of us.

Norm
 
Red Baron Farms said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::D

a person who is "4" is actually between "4" and "4 years+364 days" due to always rounding down.

So the sister will be between "2" and "2 years 182 days" younger, being half your age.

wait til sis becomes 12, then you are between 14 and 14 years +182 days. always rounding down means you are 14 either way. This is your minimum age because 12 years 0 days is your sister's minimum age. :thumbsup:

But sis also has 364 days more before her next birthday. So depending when asked she could be up to 12 years 364 days, and the maximum you could be is 2 years 182 days older.

12 years 364 days + 2 years 182 days = 14 years 546 days = 15 years 181 days. Always rounding down means 15 years old is your maximum age.

QED
Click to expand...


Oh, that's stupid. That is just ... so stupid.

It's a logic question which means we take the words at their precise meaning. 4 years old means the person has been alive exactly 4 years. Half of that is exactly 2 years.

Otherwise, you're mixing generalized statements with some particularized statements and getting just complete and utter garbage.

For the answer you approve of to be correct, the question would have had to read, "At some point during the year after my fourth birthday ..."

The answer is 14. The reasoning you approve of is illogical and very, very stupid.
 
DevilsAdvocate said:
I was right. The numbers I posted are correct. As I said, it depends on how you interpret "half my age".

You were born 1/1/1980. Your sister was born 1/2/1981. On 1/1/1984 you just turned 4. Your sister was 2 years old. She would turn 3 the next day. You were 4 and she was 2, so she was half your age in "years old". On 1/2/1993 she turned 12. You were 13.
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This.

First of all, the correct answer is 14. But if you are going to play games then the above is correct and RBF is simply wrong.
 
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