Non-routine Mathematics Questions

Here are some non-routine maths questions for you to have some fun with.

Q1. 3 men go on a business trip and pay $30 altogether at a hotel. The manager of the hotel discovers that he has overcharged them and refunds them $5. The 3 men decide to accept $1 each and give the $2 to a bellboy. So, each man has spent $9 so they have an expenditure of $27. Including the tip, that's $29. So where is the missing $1?( Remember, they paid $30)

Answer: Actually, there is no missing $1. The men do pay a total of $9.00 each (total of $27.00) for the room, but only after you add in the amount they tipped the bellboy($2). They paid $25 for the room and they gave the bellboy $2 as a tip. ($25 + 2 = $27.00). Including the $3 the men received as a refund, you will get the full $30( $27+$3=$30).

Q2. A road is 300km long. Car A is at the very start of the road and Car B is at the very end of the road. They start driving at exactly the same time towards each other. A bird is on the roof of Car A. As soon as both cars start moving, the bird travels at a speed of 150km/h towards Car B. When it reaches Car B, it turns around and returns to Car A, then Car B, so on and so forth, until both cars reach the mid-point of the road. How far has the bird flown if Car A and Car B travel at 60km/h and 90km/h respectively?

<-------------------------------------------300km------------------------------------------->

Car A>------------------------------------>ROAD<--------------------------------------Car B

Answer: This question is really quite simple. It can be solved in just 2 steps. However, you must know the formula for calculating Distance, Time and Speed first. For your info, it is Distance= Time * Speed. Thus, before we find out the distance the bird has flown("How far has the bird flown") , we must find out its speed and time. We already know its speed( 150km/h). So, how do we know its time?

We know the road is 300km long and Car A and Car B travel at a total speed of 150km/h( 60km/h + 90km/h). Hence, we can work out easily that they will take 2 hours to meet. That is the time given to the bird to travel.

So, since Distance= Speed * Time, Distance flown= Bird's Speed* Bird's time to travel=150km/h * 2h= 300km.( Answer)