Mathematical_Recreations-Kraitchik-2e

CHAPTER TWO
ANCIENT AND CURIOUS PROBLEMS
THE first group of problems is based on selections from the
two oldest collections of problems in French literature: the
first, by Chuquet (1484), the other by Clavius, author of an
early treatise on algebra (1608).
1. A man spends t of his money and loses t- of the remainder.
He then has 12 pieces. How much money had he
at first? (Chuquet) Answer: 54 pieces.
2. A bolt of cloth is colored as follows: t and t of it are
black, and the remaining 8 yards are gray. How long is the
bolt? (Chuquet)
Answer: 19.2 yards.
3. A merchant visited three fairs. At the first he doubled
his money and spent $30, at the second he tripled his money
and spent $54, at the third he quadrupled his money and
spent $72, and then had $48 left. With how much money
did he start? (Chuquet) Answer: $29.
4. A carpenter agrees to work under the following conditions:
He is to be paid at the rate of $5.50 a day for his
work, while he must pay at the rate of $6.60 a day for lost
time. At the end of 30 days he is "all square," having paid
out as much as he received. How many days did he work?
(Chuquet)
Answer: H>-A-.
5. In order to encourage his son in the study of arithmetic,
a father agrees to pay his boy 8 cents for every problem
correctly solved and to fine him 5 cents for each incorrect
solution. At the end of 26 problems neither owes anything
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