math riddles with answers
Math Riddles with Answers
Here are some wicked math riddles. Go ahead and see if you can solve all of them without peeking at the answers!
Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big, black bat?
- The Riddler (Batman Forever)Easy Math Riddles with Answers
If you take 3 apples from a group of 5, how many do you have?
Answer: Three - you just took them yourself!
Why should you never mention the number 288 in front of anyone?
Answer: Because 288 is too gross (2*144 = two gross)!
What weighs more - a pound of iron or a pound of feathers?
Answer: Both would weigh the same - come on, a pound remains a pound, irrespective of the object!
How many eggs can you put in an empty basket one foot in diameter?
Answer: Only one egg, because after that the basket doesn't remain empty any more!
If you can purchase 8 eggs for 26 cents, how many can you buy for a cent and a quarter?
Answer: Eight
How many 9's are there between 1 and 100?
Answer: Twenty 9's
Which has more value - 1 pound of $20 gold coins or half a pound of $40 gold coins?
Answer: Twice of half a pound is one pound - figured it out yet?
Why is the longest human nose on record is only 11 inches long?
Answer: Because then it wouldn't be a nose any more; it would become a foot! (12 inches and above - easy!)
If a rooster laid 13 eggs, and the farmer took 8 of them, and then another rooster laid 12 eggs and 4 of them were rotten, how many of the eggs were left?
Answer: Roosters don't lay no eggs!
I am an odd number; take away an alphabet and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: 7 (SEVEN-S=EVEN)
Tough Math Riddles with Answers
What would be the seventh rung of the following pyramid?
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
(Psst! This is one of the best riddles and my personal favorite in this section - so, don't let me down on this one!)
Answer: 1113213211. After the first line, each line describes the previous line as follows:
One 1
2 Ones
One 2, One 1
(and so on...)
You have a barrel of beer and you need to measure out just one gallon. How do you do this if you only have a three-gallon container and a five-gallon container?
Answer: Fill the 3-gallon container with beer and pour it into the 5-gallon container. Then fill the 3-gallon container again and keep pouring it into the 5-gallon container till the latter is full to the brim. One gallon will be left in the 3-gallon container.
If you have 6 black socks, 4 blue socks, 8 brown socks, and 2 red socks in your sock drawer, what is the minimum number of socks that you need to pull out in the dark to be sure you had a matching pair?
Answer: At least 5, so that at least one color has two socks!
Jake weighs half as much as Joe, and John weighs three times as much as Jake. Together, they weigh 720 pounds. How much does each man weigh?
Answer: If Joe weighs twice as much as Jake, and John three times as much, dividing their total weight by six gives us Jake's weight (think x + 2x + 3x = 720). 720 divided by 6 tells us that Jake weighs 120 pounds, so Joe weighs 240 pounds and John weighs 360 pounds.
So you think you're good at math? Complete the sequence: 1=3, 2=3, 3=5, 4=4, 5=4, 6=3, 7=5, 8=5, 9=4, 10=3, 11=?, 12=?
Answer: 6. That is the number of letters in the spelling of each number!
In a certain country ½ of 5 = 3. Assuming the same proportion, what would be the value of 1/3 of 10 ?
Answer: 4
27 ducks are marching to the pond. 5 lose their way, 13 return, and 9 of them make it to the pond. What happens to the rest of them?
Answer: None are remaining!( 27-5= 22, 22-13= 9, 9-9=0!!!)
Mary has three coins of American currency. They are neither quarters, dimes, nor pennies, but they add up to 60 cents. What are they?
Answer: A 50 cent and 2 nickels!
A merchant can place 8 large boxes or 10 small boxes into a carton for shipping. In one shipment, he sent a total of 96 boxes. If there are more large boxes than small boxes, how many cartons did he ship?
Answer: 11 cartons total; 7 large boxes (7 * 8 = 56 boxes), 4 small boxes (4 * 10 = 40 boxes),11 total cartons and 96 boxes.
A frog fell into a hole that was 14½ feet deep. He could jump 3 feet, but he slid back a foot each time he jumped. How many jumps does it take him to get out of the hole?
Answer: Every 3 feet jump accompanied by a 1 foot slide equals 2 feet high jumps each; at this rate, so the 7th jump, starting at 12 feet, brings him to 15 feet, which takes him out of the hole.
Aron had twelve ear buds in front of him. He took one away. Now he had nine in front of him. How is this possible?
Answer: The remaining buds were arranged to form the figure of 9!! How else??
Tom was asked how old he was. He replied "In 2 years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago.' How old is he ?
Answer:
- If Tom's age is X years
- X+2=2(X-5)
- X+2=2X-10
- X=12
A woman has 7 daughters and they each have a brother, how many children does she have?
Answer: 8 children, the sisters have just one brother!
A 40-yard long street has a tree every 10 yards on both sides. How many trees are there?
Answer: 10, 5 on either side
There are 10 apples with you, and 10 friends who want them. You give each an apple, yet one apple remains in the basket...how is this possible?
Answer: Well, it's simple, you give 9 apples to your friends, and the last apple you give to your 10th friend with the basket!
How many two cent stamps are there in a dozen?
Answer: 12, a dozen of anything is still 12!
I'm there once in a minute, twice in a moment but never in a thousand years. Who am I?
Answer: The letter M!
Add 2 to 200 four times? What do you have?
Answer: 202, 202, 202, 202
Can you take 9 from 6, 10 from 9, 50 from 40 and still be left with 6?
Answer: Of course you can,
- SIX - 9(IX)=S
- 9 (IX) - 10 (X) = I
- 40 (XL) - 50 (L) = X
- SIX!
A boy is twice as old as his sister, and half as old as their father. In 50 years, his sister will be half as old as their father. How old is the boy now?
Answer: He is 50 years old.
What are the next three numbers in this series? 4, 6, 12, 18, 30, 42, 60, 72, 102, 108,...?
Answer: The numbers have prime numbers before and after them such as, 4 (3 and 5 prime), 6 (5 and 7 prime) and so on to, 108 (107 and 109 prime). So the next three numbers are, 138 (137 and 139 prime), 150 (149 and 151 prime), 180 (179 and 181 prime)
Rob and Mark live in different parts of town but attend the same high school. Mark left for school ten minutes before Jose and they met in the park. Who was closer to school when they met?
Answer: They met in the same place! They are both at the same distance from school.
The Man at St. Ives is one of the oldest riddles in history, check it out.
As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits;
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
Math riddles are a creative way of having fun as well as sharpening your acumen with numbers and details. For those of you who are mathematical geniuses, here's a parting riddle, created by none other than the great Albert Einstein himself! Considered one of the hardest riddles of all time, try cracking this confounding piece that tickles your logical reasoning powers!
Answer: Only the narrator has said anything about going to St. Ives, not anyone else!
Einstein's Riddle
In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors. In each house lives a person of different nationality. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet. Who owns the fish?
Necessary Clues
➤ The Brit lives in a red house.
➤ The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
➤ The Dane drinks tea.
➤ The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
➤ The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
➤ The person smoking Pall Mall rears birds.
➤ The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
➤ The man living in the center house drinks milk.
➤ The Norwegian man lives in the first house.
➤ The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
➤ The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
➤ The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
➤ The German smokes Prince.
➤ The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
➤ The Blends smoker lives next door to the man who drinks water.
Though touted among the world's most challenging riddles and considered one of the hardest mathematical riddles ever, this one's not very difficult to crack if one has patience and has a flair for systematic data interpretation. Get that thinking cap on and do let me know the solution when you arrive at it. Till then, stay riddled!