ACADEMIC COURTESIES.
(
Money Puzzles)
In a certain mixed school, where a special feature was made of the
inculcation of good manners, they had a curious rule on assembling every
morning. There were twice as many girls as boys. Every girl made a bow
to every other girl, to every boy, and to the teacher. Every boy made a
bow to every other boy, to every girl, and to the teacher. In all there
were nine hundred bows made in that model academy every morning. Now,
can you say exactly how many boys there were in the school? If you are
not very careful, you are likely to get a good deal out in your
calculation.
Answer:
There must have been ten boys and twenty girls. The number of bows girl
to girl was therefore 380, of boy to boy 90, of girl with boy 400, and
of boys and girls to teacher 30, making together 900, as stated. It will
be remembered that it was not said that the teacher himself returned the
bows of any child.
