ALGEBRA I-UNIT #1 BRAIN TEASERS-DAY #22-(9/25/14)
Brain Teaser- "Al and Cal"
Two math students, Al and Cal, each picked a number and then performed five arithmetic operations.
Al took his number and performed the following operations:
(i) subtracted 3
(ii) then multiplied by 4
(iii) then added 5
(iv) then took the square root
(v) then divided by 3
Cal did just the opposite of his math buddy. He took his number and did the following:
(i) added 3
(ii) then divided by 4
(iii) then subtracted 5
(iv) then squared the result
(v) then multiplied by 3
After performing their arithmetic, BOTH Al and Cal ended up with the same answer of 3 . Also, there were no negative results at any step along the way.
Who picked the larger number, Al or Cal ?
HINT: Work Backwards from final result
Al took his number and performed the following operations:
(i) subtracted 3
(ii) then multiplied by 4
(iii) then added 5
(iv) then took the square root
(v) then divided by 3
Cal did just the opposite of his math buddy. He took his number and did the following:
(i) added 3
(ii) then divided by 4
(iii) then subtracted 5
(iv) then squared the result
(v) then multiplied by 3
After performing their arithmetic, BOTH Al and Cal ended up with the same answer of 3 . Also, there were no negative results at any step along the way.
Who picked the larger number, Al or Cal ?
HINT: Work Backwards from final result