interesting math problem

[br0wn]

Two men, A and B, stand in front of a house.

B says he has 3 daughters, and the
sum of the daughters' age is the house's number.
The product of his daughters' age is 36.

A looks at the house's number, and said to B :
"Hmm, You don't give me enough information".

B says his oldest daughter has white hair.

How old is each of B's daughter ?

All the ages are INTEGER.

edit: rephrase some statements

 

[Moonbeam]

The product of what is 36?

 

[fragarific]

product means the answer to a multiplication problem

 

[fragarific]

lets BREAK IT DOWN

 

[visgf]

Often, very young children have white hair, so my guess is that the youngest is 1-year-old. The other two can then be any other set of numbers that equal 36 when multiplied (like 6 and 6, 9 and 4, or 12 and 2). Another possiblility is that the youngest is 2, which means that the product of the older two equals 18 (like 3 and 6, or 2 and 9). Other possible answers are (3,3,4) or (3,6,2).

These are all possibilities, but the white hair cannot narrow it down very well, because the child might just be intensely blonde.

 

[Capn]

Doesn't seem like you give enough information unless you start making assumptions. Maybe his old daughter is 144 and he has two 6 month old daughters. And they're standing in front of house no. 145? hehehe

 

[konichiwa]

It's got to be some trick answer or something.

 

[br0wn]

assume all the ages are INTEGER.

 

[fragarific]

i think theres one more part he's hiding from us until we crack!

 

[br0wn]

There is an answer to this question and this was asked
during one of my interviews
(I solved it in about 5 minutes, and this was under pressure).

 

[konichiwa]

Well you want me to get you a medal?

No, make it a beret. (In reference to another thread. You'll only get it if you read that one)

 

[fragarific]

I remember something like this from years ago and i cant get it. And the hair line matters but not in a guessing way.

 

[fragarific]

oh, i got it! B and A are acually the same person! He's going through a very rough time in his life now and the best thing we could do for him is console him.

 

[konichiwa]

...that'd be called schizophrenia.

 

[Thanatopsis]

It doesn't make a shred of difference unless you know the house number. I know at least 2 people under 18 who have natural white hair. The daughters could be 1, 2, 18, or 1, 3, 12 or 2, 3, 6....

There is not enough info with what you stated.

 

[fragarific]

reeer...

 

[br0wn]

its interesting eh ?

 

[fragarific]

<edit> it's great!

 

[bomb99]

two men standing in front of the house, man i guess those are gay guys and they dont' have any daughter

 

[fragarific]

are pimps supposed to be gay because its better if they're not attracted to their employees

 

[Valhalla1]

I'm thinkin' guy A is bangin' all 3 of guy B's daughters

 

[Capn]

they are 9, 2, and 2

 

[Monel Funkawitz]

Is the wind blowing from the north or the southeast?

 

[br0wn]

Capn got it.

Congrats, you are the only one that uses your brain

 

[goog40]

By the oldest daughter remark, you know his oldest aren't twins, so possibilites are:
1 1 36 = 38
1 2 18 = 21
1 3 12 = 16
1 4 9 = 14
2 2 9 = 13
2 3 6 = 11
3 3 4 = 10

The only other possible answer if you don't know he has an oldest daughter yet:
1 6 6 = 13

Since the man did not know the answer at first, there had to be 2 possibilities for his house number, so the man's daughters are ages 2, 2, and 9.


doh, too late