world algrbra problem

[gabbydoodles]

man wrinkle spent 1/4 of his life as a boy, 1/8 as a youth and 1/2 as an active man.if man wrinkle spent 12 years as an old man, then how many years did he spend as an active man?_________________-

i think its 24
am i right

 

[mmm4444bot]

After making an assumption, I get a different answer.

I assumed that the given categories make up the man's entire life, so that I could say his "old man" years represent 1/8th of his life.

1/4 boy
1/8 youth
1/2 active
1/8 old man

What did you try? :cool:

 

[Deleted member 4993]

After making an assumption, I get a different answer.

I assumed that the given categories make up the man's entire life, so that I could say his "old man" years represent 1/8th of his life.

1/4 boy
1/8 youth
1/2 active
1/8 old man

What did you try? :cool:

That guy spent 24 years as a boy?!! - in those days (96 years ago)???

 

[HallsofIvy]

man wrinkle spent 1/4 of his life as a boy, 1/8 as a youth and 1/2 as an active man.if man wrinkle spent 12 years as an old man, then how many years did he spend as an active man?_________________-

i think its 24
am i right

No, you are not. Unfortunately, since you chose not to show HOW you arrived at that answer, it is impossible to say what you might have done wrong.

 

[mmm4444bot]

I think that the original wording provides yet another example of a languish bury her.

 

[HallsofIvy]

man wrinkle spent 1/4 of his life as a boy, 1/8 as a youth and 1/2 as an active man.if man wrinkle spent 12 years as an old man, then how many years did he spend as an active man?_________________-

i think its 24
am i right

1/4, 1/8, and 1/2 add up to what fraction of his life? What does that leave, as a fraction of his entire llife, for "an old man"? Since that fraction of his entire life was 12 years, what was the length of his entire life. What is 1/2 of that?

 

[JeffM]

1/4, 1/8, and 1/2 add up to what fraction of his life? What does that leave, as a fraction of his entire llife, for "an old man"? Since that fraction of his entire life was 12 years, what was the length of his entire life. What is 1/2 of that?

Subhotosh Khan already objected that the resulting answer violates common sense, which is admittedly meaningless in terms of pure mathematics, but does suggest that the problem has not been given to us correctly.

\(\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}x = 12 \implies x = 96 \implies \frac{1}{4}x = 24\text{, which is a very long boyhood although my wife's assertions about me seem consistent.}\)

 

[mmm4444bot]

Lost in translation