# Fram-fresh eggs

• May 13th 2008, 08:29 AM
kencheer32
Fram-fresh eggs
As I was walking to St. Ives, I met a little old man. I gave him half the farm-fresh eggs I was carrying to the market plus half an egg. A bit further along the road, I met a tall young women and gave her half the eggs I had left plus half an egg. When I finally got to the market, I had ten eggs. At no time were any of the eggs broken. How many eggs had I at the beginning?

Sincerely,
kenzie

p.s- I would really appreciate it if I could have an answer before tomorrow at 7:00 am. Because it due tomorrow. Thanks alot!!!
• May 13th 2008, 08:56 AM
blair_alane
Quote:

Originally Posted by kencheer32
As I was walking to St. Ives, I met a little old man. I gave him half the farm-fresh eggs I was carrying to the market plus half an egg. A bit further along the road, I met a tall young women and gave her half the eggs I had left plus half an egg. When I finally got to the market, I had ten eggs. At no time were any of the eggs broken. How many eggs had I at the beginning?

Sincerely,
kenzie

p.s- I would really appreciate it if I could have an answer before tomorrow at 7:00 am. Because it due tomorrow. Thanks alot!!!

First of all, how do you give someone half an egg without breaking it? :D

I believe you had 43 eggs to start. You give the old man half of that (21.5) and a half of an egg (21). Then you give the woman half of that, leaving you with 10.5 eggs, and you give her a half an egg, leaving you with 10.

As for mathy wise, you could put
$(10+\frac{1}{2})\cdot2 =21$ then....
$(21+\frac{1}{2})\cdot2 = 43$

I'm not too sure about the mathy part. Truthfully, i did a guess and check sort of thing.... :D

But ya know, i'm not too sure if I read the question right...like i assumed "plus half an egg" to mean "and you also give them half an egg..."

Well, i hope that helps! I don't know if that's right! :) And i bet I worded it confusingly!
• May 13th 2008, 08:58 AM
blair_alane
Oh yes! By the way, your title caught my eye! "Fram-fresh eggs!" Hehe! I was like "Oooo...Fram? What is that?" But i know you switch the "r" and the "a."

Just thought I'd say that! :D
• May 13th 2008, 08:58 AM
TKHunny
Rule #1 - Name Stuff.

Name what?

What does it want?

"How many eggs had I at the beginning?"

Name that.

N = Number of eggs in the beginning.

Now, just translate stuff.

"I gave him half the farm-fresh eggs I was carrying to the market plus half an egg"

How many were given away? (N/2) + (1/2) -- This is a Whole Number.
How many are left? N - [(N/2) + (1/2)] = M -- This is a Whole Number.

I defined "M" just for convenience. The whole thing gets a little cumbersome to write, otherwise.

"and gave her half the eggs I had left plus half an egg"

How many were given away? (M/2) + (1/2) -- This is a Whole Number.
How many are left? M - [(M/2) + (1/2)] = 10

Find M and then find N. Make sure they are Whole Numbers.
• May 13th 2008, 09:01 AM
masters
If no eggs were broken, how do you give someone $\frac{1}{2}$ an egg?
• May 13th 2008, 09:12 AM
blair_alane
Quote:

Originally Posted by kencheer32
As I was walking to St. Ives, I met a little old man. I gave him half the farm-fresh eggs I was carrying to the market plus half an egg. A bit further along the road, I met a tall young women and gave her half the eggs I had left plus half an egg. When I finally got to the market, I had ten eggs. At no time were any of the eggs broken. How many eggs had I at the beginning?

Sincerely,
kenzie

p.s- I would really appreciate it if I could have an answer before tomorrow at 7:00 am. Because it due tomorrow. Thanks alot!!!

By the way, for whatever I did, you can work it with the problem to check your answer...

$(43\div2)-\frac{1}{2}=21$ then...
$(21\div2)-\frac{1}{2}=10$

The way i did it, i don't really have an equation, which I'm sure you would want....TKHunny has an equation! :D Very nice, TKHunny! :) Thanks for that!
• May 13th 2008, 10:10 AM
TKHunny
There never was 1/2 an egg in consideration.

What was given away was (n/2 + 1/2) NOT (n/2)+(1/2).

Don't ungroup your eggs before they hatch.