Discover the Math Behind Sesquipedalian Eggs: A Space Cruise Adventure

[bliss]

chicken and a half?

hi~
my son and i disagree with his teacher's answer to the following problem.
please tell us what you think it is and why..
thanks!

For your next vacation, your family has signed up for a space cruise with a theme of Mathematics in the Far Reaches of the Galaxy. The first stop of your cruise rocket is the planet Sesquipedalia, where every Sesquipedalien has one and a half fingers per hand. Because of this, they tend to count by one-and-a-halfs instead of by ones or fives or tens, like we Earthlings do.

When you visit a Sesquipedalian chicken farm producing Sesquipedalian eggs, they tell you that a chicken and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half. This is confusing to you as an Earthling, so you decide to figure out how many eggs the whole farm produces in a month. If the farm has 30 chickens and a Sesquipedalian month has 30 days, what do you get?

P.S. – Please provide your answer in Earth numbers

 

[Robokapp]

1.5 is...a bad way to count.

1.5 chicken lay 1.5eggs in 1.5 days.

chicken and eggs are directly related. 3 chicken make 3 eggs. per 1.5 days.
chicken and days needed are inversely related. uh...twice more chicken would need half the unmber of days (i'm not going decimal on egg numbers :D)
eggs and days are directly related. if same number of hcicken have 3 days, they make...3 eggs.

30 is 20 times bigger than 1.5

so 30 chicken will produce in 1.5 days 20 times more than 1.5 would. that's 1.5 eggs times 20 = 30 eggs in 1.5 days.

if you produce 30 in each 1.5 days, in 20 times that ammount, you'd produce 30 * 20 = 600 eggs.

my answer is 600 Earth numbered eggs...but if you grab them with 1.5 fingers some might end up premature omlet...so "everything's relative".

 

[DaveC426913]

This problem is usually stated much simpler:

A chicken and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs does the whole farm produce in a month with 30 chickens?



But the whole "planet Sesquipedalia" throws a wrench into it. When you say "30 chickens" is that Earth numbers or SSQn numbers? When you say "the month has 30 days" is that Earth numbers or SSQn numbers?

P.S. One post of the problem is sufficient.

 

[Rowah]

By the way Bliss, what was the teacher's answer?

 

[moose]

I got 600...

 

[Robokapp]

When you visit a Sesquipedalian chicken farm producing Sesquipedalian eggs, they tell you that a chicken and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half. This is confusing to you as an Earthling, so you decide to figure out how many eggs the whole farm produces in a month. If the farm has 30 chickens and a Sesquipedalian month has 30 days, what do you get?

the 1.5 comes from them. the 30 comes from you. but it doesn't matter...the numbers are the same.

both you and him would count a multiple of 1.5 the same way :D

 

[J77]

every Sesquipedalien has one and a half fingers per hand. Because of this, they tend to count by one-and-a-halfs instead of by ones or fives or tens, like we Earthlings do.

Doesn't this mean that 1.5 equates to an Earthly 5?

 

[daveb]

Using c as units for chickens, e for eggs, and d for days, then
1.5e/(1.5c)(1.5d) * 30d*30c = 1350e/2.25 = 600e, so the answer is 600 eggs.

 

[bliss]

the answer is 600...
we thought 900, assuming 1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days would convert to 1 chicken/1egg/1day. i kinda see your reasoning, but there's sometthing that's still not clicking.
thanks for all your time!

 

[Doc Al]

...assuming 1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days would convert to 1 chicken/1egg/1day.

It's easier than you think. If 1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1 day, how many do 10 chickens lay? 10 chickens lay 10 eggs in 1 day, not 10 days!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

assuming 1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days would convert to 1 chicken/1egg/1day.

You only get to cancel a number once so it converts to 1 chicken / 1 egg / 1.5 days.

Sesqui- means one and a half. Sesquipedalian means a foot and a half.

 

[Office_Shredder]

I still can't figure out the part of the problem where it states

For your next vacation, your family has signed up for a space cruise with a theme of Mathematics in the Far Reaches of the Galaxy

How much money did you just waste on the most boring vacation in the galaxy?

 

[Darcyjr5]

People make this so hard. It is a simple ratio problem.

If 1.5 chickens lay 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days then 1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1 day. 1:1:1 therefore 30 chickens would lay 900 eggs in 30 days.

 

[Doc Al]

People make this so hard. It is a simple ratio problem.

Apparently it's not that simple.

If 1.5 chickens lay 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days then 1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1 day. 1:1:1 therefore 30 chickens would lay 900 eggs in 30 days.

Guess again. How long does it take a chicken to lay 1 egg? (And wouldn't your 1:1:1 logic imply that 30 chickens would lay 30 eggs in 30 days?)

 

[HallsofIvy]

Doesn't this mean that 1.5 equates to an Earthly 5?

No, it doesn't. It means only exactly what it says: that they count by "1 and a halfs". Now they might well have another word for "1" or "1.5" but we can presume this has been translated into English- which is why "30" is still "30" etc.
By the way, "a chicken and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half" is an old chestnut without the extraterrestrial "trimmings".

"A chicken and a half can lay and egg and a half" is exactly the same as saying "a chicken can lay an egg". "A chicken and a half can lay and egg and a half in a day and a half" is exactly the same as saying "a chicken can lay an egg in a day and a half". There are 30/1.5= 20 "day and a half"s in 30 days so a chicken can leg 20 eggs in 30 days. 30 chickens can lay 20(30)= 600 eggs in 30 days, exactly what others have got.

 

[HallsofIvy]

the answer is 600...
we thought 900, assuming 1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days would convert to 1 chicken/1egg/1day. i kinda see your reasoning, but there's sometthing that's still not clicking.
thanks for all your time!

What's wrong is your assumption: "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days" does NOT convert to "1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1 day". "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs" converts to "1 chicken lays 1 egg" so "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days" converts to "1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1.5 days".

 

[Darcyjr5]

Why or how does this not convert to a 1:1:1 ratio. Are you not changing the equation if you cchange it to 1 chicken, 1 egg in 1.5 days? I don't understand how it is that you are changing the equation. This does not make sense, mathmatical or otherwise. If you are right, I am definitely missing something, but what?

What's wrong is your assumption: "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days" does NOT convert to "1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1 day". "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs" converts to "1 chicken lays 1 egg" so "1.5 chickens laying 1.5 eggs in 1.5 days" converts to "1 chicken lays 1 egg in 1.5 days".

 

[DaveC426913]

Why or how does this not convert to a 1:1:1 ratio. Are you not changing the equation if you cchange it to 1 chicken, 1 egg in 1.5 days? I don't understand how it is that you are changing the equation. This does not make sense, mathmatical or otherwise. If you are right, I am definitely missing something, but what?

Let's make it simpler.

There are two people and two pigs.
The two people can eat the two pigs in five days (think of it as one pig each).

It should be easy to see that one person can eat one pig, but it will still take five days for him to do so.

Just like it will take 756 people five days to eat 756 pigs. (It won't take 756 days, will it?)