puzzle - find ages of her son

[ankur rathi]

One man went at woman�s house, for enquiry about her children.
She said she has 3 sons.
Multiplication of there ages is 36.
And sum is equal to house number in front of her house.

Then after listening this much that man left and come back again..
He said, I seen that house number. But your clues are not enough. Can you give me one more clue??
She said ..my big son is sleeping and I have to go!!!

Man said ..ok� I got answer!!!

Can you tell me ages of her son???

[fred rosenberger]

I say it can't be done.

[Ryan McGuire]

Originally posted by Fred Rosenberger:
I say it can't be done.

I would tend to disagree, Fred.

There are only so many ages for her sons with 36 as a product:
1 1 36 (sum = 38)
1 2 18 (sum = 21)
1 3 12 (sum = 16)
1 4 9 (sum = 14)
1 6 6 (sum = 13)
2 2 9 (sum = 13)
2 3 6 (sum = 11)
3 3 4 (sum = 10)

The only address (sum of ages) that would not provide enough information would be 13. So the sons are either 1 6 6 or 2 2 9. The statement that the lady's "big son is sleeping" implies that she has one single eldest son, as opposed to twins that are tied for being eldest. Therefore her sons are 2, 2, and 9.

[Arjun Shastry]

6/6/1 an 9/2/2.Big(eldest) son hence 9/2/2

[fred rosenberger]

Ask my nephew Teddy who is older - him, or his twin brother. He will gladly tell you he is - by 5 minutes.

he IS older than his brother, although they have the same age rounded off to years.

so, in your example, even in the case of the 1, 6 and 6 year old, ONE of those twins is older.

[Raghavan Muthu]

I guess the logic explained by Ryan McGuire seems to be quite perfect and agreeable here

[Ryan McGuire]

Fred, apparently you don't speak fluent Puzzlese. Maybe this summer you can take a vacation in Puzzlestan.

In that country, twins are EXACTLY the same age.

Also, jars come in weird, but very exact, sizes. When you pour liquids from one container to another, absolutely none is left in the first one.

It seems there is a dearth of scales that provide an actual number of grams. Instead everyone has double-pan balances, but they always seem to break after only three or four weighings.

Be careful, though, because the surrounding seas are crowded with pirates that are endlessly trying to divide various amounts of treasure "fairly".

The medieval castles there are particularly lovely and well-preserved, but if you want to visit them you have to make your own bridge across the moat using some number of planks that aren't quite long enough to reach the whole way across. Once you do make a bridge across the moat, the rest of your travel companions will be forced to walk at various speeds and the bridge will only hold two of you at a time.

Has anyone else taken a trip there (business or pleasure)? Am I leaving anything out?
[ January 31, 2008: Message edited by: Ryan McGuire ]

[Jim Yingst]

[Ryan]: In that country, twins are EXACTLY the same age.

And more generally, everyone's age is an exact integer.

[Ryan]: Am I leaving anything out?

Many of the inhabitants are incapable of ambiguity, and speak only perfect truths or perfect lies. Most speak only one or the other, though a few alternate with each statement.
[ January 31, 2008: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

[Ryan McGuire]

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
Many of the inhabitants are incapable of ambiguity, and speak only perfect truths or perfect lies. Most speak only one or the other, though a few alternate with each statement.

And the judges there often determine which prisoners should live or die based on them guessing the color of their hats.