Professor Egghead's Horse

Professor Egghead bought a horse for 60 Euros.  He later sold the horse to his neighbor for 70 Euros, but discovered that he could have made a better deal.  The professor borrowed 10 Euros from his wife and repurchased the horse from his neighbor for 80 Euros, which he then sold to a different neighbor for 90 Euros.


How much money did Professor Egghead make through his transactions?

The Enterprising Art Dealer

A London art dealer purchased a painting for £60,000 and hung it in her gallery. Many people liked the painting very much and she was able to sell it in a few weeks' time for £70,000. The very next day after the painting was delivered, another customer inquired about the painting and claimed they would be willing to pay £90,000 for it if it were still for sale. The art dealer borrowed £10,000 from her partner and bought the painting back from the original customer for £80,000 and was then able to sell it to the second customer for the £90,000 that had been agreed upon.

How much profit did the art dealer make in her transactions?

The Motel Room

Three businessmen are in Cleveland for a convention. Since they are on a budget, they decide to share a room at a motel that charges $30 per night ($10 per man). The motel manager is in a good mood that night and decides to reimburse some of the money. He gives the bell boy $5 and tells him to give it to the three men. However, the bell boy is dishonest and figures that you cannot divide $5 evenly among three men, so he gives back $1 to each man and keeps the other $2 for himself.

Now, the businessmen have each paid $9 for the room, or $27 all together, and the bell boy has $2, for a total of $29.

What happened to the other $1?

Who Gets Paid the Most?

Albert's weekly paycheck amounts to $250 plus 2/5 his weekly paycheck.

Charles' weekly paycheck amounts to $350 plus 3/5 his weekly paycheck.

Jane's weekly paycheck amounts to $450 plus 4/5 her weekly paycheck.

Susan's weekly paycheck amounts to $150 plus 1/5 her weekly paycheck.


How much does each person make in a week?

Shingles and Apples

There is an old story of a trader who put into Philadelphia with a boat load of shingles, some of which had been damaged in passage. He was asked by a Quaker merchant what the price was for the shingles.

"They are $10 a bundle," he replied, "if you choose the the bundles and $5 a bundle if I choose them."

The merchant thought for a minute and said, "Captain, I will buy your whole cargo, and you may choose the bundles."


The following puzzle involves a similar principle:

A man had an apple stand and sold his larger apples at three for a dollar and his smaller apples at five for a dollar. When he had just thirty apples of each size left to sell, he asked his son to watch the stand while he had lunch. When he came back from lunch the apples were all gone and the son gave his father $15. The father questioned his son.

"You should have received $10 for the thirty large apples and $6 for the thirty small apples, making $16 dollars in all."

The son looked surprised. "I am sure I gave you all the money I received and I counted the change most carefully. It was difficult to manage without you here, and as there were an equal number of each sized apple left, I sold them all at the average price of four for $1. Four goes into sixty fifteen times so I am sure $15 is correct."

Where did the missing $1 go?