Two MIT math graduates bump into each other. They hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years.
The first grad says to the second: “how have you been?â€
Second: “Great! I got married and I have three daughters nowâ€
First: “Really? how old are they?â€
Second:
“Well, the product of their ages is 72, and the sum of their ages is
the same as the number on that building over there..â€
First: “Right, ok.. oh wait.. I still don’t knowâ€
second: “Oh sorry, the oldest one just started to play the pianoâ€
First: “Wonderful! my oldest is the same age!†Problem: How old are the daughters?
The possible solutions are (12,3,2), (9,4,2), (6,4,3), (9,8,1)
- The oldest can not be more than 20 years old since the have not seen each other for 20 years.
- What matters is their product only.
- The second condition about their sum is not needed.
-
The third one is need, so depending on at what age can a kid play
piano, we determine the solutions accordingly. For me I think at age 6,
which leaves me with (6,4,3)