SOL #14 2018

Conundrum

Honestly, I just like to sound of the word.  “Conundrum,” I repeat in my head first, then aloud.  I think of a conundrum as something that gets you scratching your noodle.  We all need to do a little noodle-scratching from time to time.  Experts, like Carol Dweck, teach us that “every time an individual makes a mistake in mathematics, new synapses are formed in their brain. When people think about why something is wrong, new synaptic connections are sparked that cause the brain to grow.”  We all want our brains to grow, right?  While conundrums can be applied to concepts outside of the mathematics world, I find math conundrums to be some of the most challenging!

Try out these conundrums (borrowed from http://www.mathwarehouse.com)-maybe your brain will grow because you’ll get it wrong the first, second … and maybe even the twentieth time!

Two Fathers and Two Sons Riddle

Two fathers and two sons sat down to eat eggs for breakfast. They ate exactly three eggs, each person had an egg.  How is this possible?

Or try out this one …

Crossing the River

A farmer is trying to cross a river. He is taking with him a rabbit, carrots and a fox, and he has a small raft. He can only bring 1 item a time across the river because his raft can only fit either the rabbit, the carrots or the fox. How does he cross the river. (You can assume that the fox does not eat the rabbit if the man is present, you can also assume that the fox and the rabbit are not trying to escape and run away.)

One last conundrum for good luck (or maybe just some brain growth)! (borrowed from dailymail.co.uk