Brain Benders 2 AATC

Ebook Code: REAU0071
Title: Brain Benders 2 Acknowledgements for Front Cover

© 2009 Ready-Ed Publications i. Clip art images have been obtained
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ISBN: 978 1 86397 780 7

2
Contents
The Jellybeans 6 Friends in a Line 30
The Eggs 6 Answer 31
Answers 7
Farmer Brown’s Farm 32
Animals in the Zoo 8 Answer 33
The Lily Pond 8
Answers 9 Arohana’s Marbles 34
Answer 35
Six Squares 10
Nine Squares 10 The Wine Barrels 36
Answers 11 Answer 37
The Apple Thief 12

Farmer Smith’s Troughs 12 Brain Busters
Answers 13
Bank Accounts 40
Frog in the Well 14 Answer 41
Answer 15
Pages in a Book 42
Out to Dinner 16 Answer 43
Answer 17
Connecting Cables to Houses 44
The Computer Thieves 18 Answer 45
Answer 19
Weighing the Marble 46
Occupations 20 Answer 47
Answer 21
Brother and Sister 48
Pocket Money 22 Answer 49
Answer 23
Derryn and James 50
The Race 24 Answer 51
Answer 25
Egg Timer 52
Who’s Wearing What? 26 Answer 53
Answer 27
Filling the Bath 54
Merry-Go-Round 28 Answer 55
Answer 29
3
Teachers’ Notes
What is this book about?
This book contains twenty-eight photocopiable mathematical problems. The problems have
been written and presented to suit a range of abilities and ways of thinking and learning in
middle primary school. Problem solving is an important part of the mathematics curriculum
and this book has been designed to help students become familiar with, and put into
practice, a range of problem solving techniques. The strategies which this book encourages
students to use and develop are: guess and check, looking for patterns, drawing pictures and
modelling objects, listing and eliminating possibilities, filling in grids, using timelines and
making assumptions and estimates and judging the reasonableness of them. The problems
are also designed to highlight the importance of reading mathematical language carefully.
Why have we written this book?

We have both been primary school teachers and are aware of the kind of support materials
that busy teachers need. Over the years, we have collected the mathematical problems that
appear in this book, and have shared many of them with our peers. It is their promptings that
have brought about the publishing of this collection. The problems that appear in this book
will add flavour and interest to a mathematics programme. They will create discussion and
debate and stimulate mathematical thought. It is our belief that children exposed to such
problems as the ones in this book, will develop greater powers to solve problems, investigate
information and make decisions inside as well as outside of the classroom. Most of these
problems do not have immediately obvious answers. Their solutions might well include group
discussion, or time to think them over at school or at home.
What is different about this book?

In spite of the fact that the types of problems that we have published have existed for a long
time, are enjoyed by children and are an integral part of the curricula, it seems that not all
teachers are using them. We think that one of the reasons for this is that they have not been
made available in a ‘ready-to-use’ format. We have published this book in what we believe is a
‘ready-to-use’ format: using large print for creating overhead transparencies, mainly limiting
one problem to one page, and providing answers which focus on the step-by-step methods
which children are likely to use to solve the problems. We are aware that there are more
sophisticated and sometimes shorter explanations of answers to some of the problems, but
we have chosen to explain the answers in ways that we think children will best understand
them.
How might you use this book?

Teachers can use these problems in a variety of ways. Some teachers have found it effective
to give their students a problem at the end of a mathematics lesson as a starter discussion for
the following day. Students are often sufficiently interested in the problems to discuss them
at home. The most important thing for teachers to realise, is that if the problems are at the
right level for their students, then they will not be solved immediately but will require some
thought and possibly some discussion and debate. At the back of the book we have created
a Brain Buster section which includes more difficult mathematical problems. You may use
the problems which appear in this section as you wish. They could, for example, be used to
extend more able students or to occupy fast finishers.
We hope that you and your students enjoy solving these problems.
Barry Brocas and Brenda Bicknell
4
Curriculum Links
NSW
Working Mathematically (stage 3)
Number (stage 3)
Patterns and Algebra (stage 3)
Measurement (stage 3)
Space and Geometry (stage 3)
NT
Spatial Sense (band 2)
Movement and Data Sense (band 2)
Number Sense (band 2)
WA
Appreciating Mathematics (1)
Working Mathematically (3) (4) (5)
Number (6) (7) (8)
Measurement (9) (10) (11)
Space (15) (16)
Algebra (19)
QLD
Essential Learnings Year 5
Number
Algebra
Measurement
Space
SA
Essential Learnings
Measurement (standard 3)
Number (standard 3)
Pattern and Algebraic Reasoning (standard 3)
Spatial Sense and Geometric Reasoning (standard 3)
VIC
Victorian Essential Learning Statements
Number (level 4)
Space (level 4)
Measure (level 4)
Structure (level 4)
Working Mathematically (level 4)
5
How do you rate this Brain Bender?
Brain Bender 1 Brain Boring! Easy on the Brain! Brain Bending! Super Dooper Brain Bending!
The Jellybeans
Ainsleigh ate one hundred jellybeans in five days.
Each day she ate six more than she ate the previous day.
How many jellybeans did Ainsleigh eat on the first day?
_____ jellybeans
Hint: Use a guess and check approach. Guess how many she ate on the first day. Then adjust guesses accordingly.

The Eggs
If three hens will lay three eggs in three days, how many eggs will six hens
lay in six days?
_____ eggs
6
Brain Bender 1
Answer The Jellybeans

Students should use a guess and check approach.
One possible approach is to have a guess and adjust the figures until all five
days total a hundred. For example, if a student guesses that Ainsleigh ate
one jellybean on the first day, they will be thirty-five jellybeans short:
1 + 7 + 13 + 19 + 25 = 65
This is an average of seven jellybeans short each day. So seven should be
added to each number to get:
8 + 14 + 20 + 26 + 32 = 100
So the answer is: Ainsleigh ate eight jellybeans on the first day.
Some more able students may be able to understand, if taught, that the
middle number has to be the average of the five numbers, because the
difference between consecutive numbers is constant. So the middle number
must be twenty. It is then easy to reach the answer.
Brain Bender 2
Answer The Eggs
Students use computation to solve this problem.
If only the number of hens doubled and the number of days remained the
same, the answer would be six eggs – double the number of eggs.
But the six hens also have twice as much laying time.
So the answer is 12 eggs.
7
Animals in the Zoo

A small zoo has enough fencing to surround five animals but not enough to
separate them. However, by digging three straight trenches, (drawing three
straight lines on the diagram below) the animals can be separated from
each other. The animals cannot move from their places as shown below.
Where could the trenches (lines) be placed?
Hint: There are many possible solutions to this problem.

The Lily Pond

A water lily on a pond doubles in size each week. If it takes ten weeks to cover
the whole pond, how many weeks would it take to cover half the pond?
_____ weeks
8
Brain Bender 3
Answer Animals in the Zoo

Students will arrive at a solution through trial and error.
There are many solutions. Two possibilities are shown below.
Brain Bender 4
Answer The Lily Pond
Students work backwards to solve this problem.
Since the water lily doubles in size every week and it covers the whole pond
after ten weeks, it must have covered half of the pond after nine weeks.
9
Six Squares
Place seventeen sticks so that they form a pattern of six squares as shown
below. Now take away five sticks so that only three squares are left.
Note: Every stick remaining must be part of a square.

Nine Squares
Use twenty-four sticks to make the pattern below. Remove four sticks so
that you take away four squares and leave only five squares. Each stick that
is left must be part of a square.
10
Brain Bender 5
Answer Six Squares

Most students will adopt a trial and error approach to this question.
Method 1: Trial and error

Method 2:
A reasonable guess is that by removing five sticks, three squares are taken
away, so one square can be removed by taking away two sticks. The second
square can be removed by taking another two sticks away and the third
square can be removed by taking one stick away.
The two possible answers are:
Brain Bender 6
Answer Nine Squares

Most students will adopt a trial and error approach to this question.
Since the removal of four sticks takes

away four squares, we need to look for
situations where the removal of one
stick removes one square. There are four
of them. We are left with the following
arrangement.
11
The Apple Thief

While three security guards were guarding an orchard, a thief slipped in and
stole some apples. On the thief’s way out he met the three security guards, one
after the other. To each of the guards in turn he gave half of the apples he had
and then two more. The thief managed to escape with only one apple.
How many apples did the thief steal?
_____ apples
Hint: To solve this problem, work backwards.

Farmer Smith’s Troughs

Farmer Smith’s farm has eight troughs on it and it is in the shape shown below.
He wants to divide his farm into four identical paddocks with two troughs in each
paddock. He is going to use only straight fences.
Show how he could do this by drawing only two lines on the plan of the farm.
12
Brain Bender 7
Answer The Apple Thief
Students need to work backwards to solve this problem.
To his one remaining apple, add the two that he

gave to the third security guard. This equals three
apples. This must be half the number of apples he
had before he gave half of his apples to the third
guard. So when he met the third guard he had six
apples. Add two to six and double it to get sixteen,
which is the number of apples he had when he
met the second guard. Add two to sixteen and
double it to get thirty-six, which is the number
of apples he had when he met the first security
guard.
So the answer is: the thief stole thirty-six
apples.
Brain Bender 8
Answer Farmer Smith’s Troughs

Students can reach an answer through a trial and error approach.
The two lines shown

subdivide the land
into four parts,
equal in size and
congruent in shape.
Each part has two
troughs.
13
Frog in the Well

A frog is at the bottom of a thirty metre well. Each hour it climbs three metres and
then slips back two metres. How many hours does it take for the frog to reach the top
of the well? Drawing a vertical time-line may help you to solve this problem.
_____ hours
Hint: Think about what happens when the frog gets close to the top of the wall.
14
Brain Bender 9
Answer Frog in the Well
Students may want to draw a vertical time-line to solve this problem.
After one hour, the frog will be one metre

up the well, because it will have climbed
three metres up the well wall and slipped
two metres back down. After two hours,
the frog will be two metres up the well
wall. Looking at the pattern so far, it is
tempting to conclude that the frog will
take 30 hours to reach the top of the well.
However, after 27 hours, the frog will have
climbed a total of 27 metres and during
the next hour it will reach the top of the
well. Then it will not slip down.
We cannot give the answer precisely, but
it will take the frog between 27 and 28
hours to reach the top of the well.
15
Out to Dinner
A family of four (father, mother, brother and sister) sit around a table in a restaurant
for dinner. Each person eats a main meal. The meals that they order are chicken,
steak, fish and vegetarian. They also each have a drink of juice. The drinks that they
order are orange, tomato, apple and grapefruit juice.
Use the clues below to find out who is sitting in which seat, what they are eating
and what juice they are drinking.
Clue 1 The sister sits in seat

one.
2
Clue 2 The person who eats the
chicken is not sitting in
Clue 3
seat one or seat four.
The person in seat three
1 3
who drinks tomato juice
and eats steak is not the
4
mother, because the
mother eats chicken.
Clue 4 The person who eats
the vegetarian meal and
has grapefruit juice sits
opposite the person
who eats steak.
Clue 5 The brother sits in an
even numbered seat
opposite the person
who has an orange juice.
Seat Person Main Meal Drink

1
4
Hint: Fill in the grid provided to find the answer.
16
Brain Bender 10
Answer Out to Dinner
Students will arrive at the answer by completing the grid provided as they read the clues.
Seat Person Main Meal Drink

1 Sister vegetarian grapefruit juice
2 Mother chicken orange juice
3 Father steak tomato juice
4 Brother fish apple juice
1 3
17
The Computer Thieves

A police officer questions three thieves (Davis, Giles and Mills) after they are
discovered with some stolen computers.
The thieves try to confuse the police officer by giving conflicting statements. Each
thief makes two statements. Only one of the thieves tells the truth in both statements
while the other two thieves each give one true statement and one false statement.
The statements are:

Davis: “Mills passed them out. Giles broke the window.”
Giles: “Davis passed them out. I broke the window.”
Mills: “I put them in the van. Giles passed them out.”
Each person did exactly one of the following three tasks: break the window, pass the
computers out, put them in the van.
Who put the computers in the van?
Drawing several grids like the one below to

explore the many possibilities might help.
Davis Mills Giles

Put them in the van
Passed them out
Broke the window
Davis Giles Mills

Hint: Make an assumption and test it. For example, assume that both Davis’ statements are true.
18
Brain Bender 11
Answer The Computer Thieves
Students should adopt a guess and check approach to answer this problem.
Students should make assumptions then check that their assumptions

match the information given. They could begin by assuming that Davis’ two
statements are correct.
Davis Mills Giles

Put them in the van x x
Passed them out x x
Broke the window x x x
So the answer is: Mills put the computers in the van.
19
Occupations
Abel, Brown, Cuff, Dahl and Ellis each have one of the following occupations: a bus
driver, a police officer, a car salesperson, a teacher and a plumber.
1. Dahl and Ellis are neighbours and take turns at driving each
other to work in their cars.
2. The bus driver drives a bus to work each day.
3. The police officer lives at the Police Station.
Clues
4. The car salesperson has tried unsuccessfully to sell Cuff a car.

Cuff, who walks to work, says he does not need one.
5. Brown lives in his own house.
6. The teacher plays golf with Cuff on the weekends.
7. The teacher is female.
8. Dahl’s wife takes yoga classes.
Use the grid below to help you to find the occupation of each of the five people.
Abel Brown Cuff Dahl Ellis

Bus Driver
Police Officer
Salesperson
Teacher
Plumber
Abel: _________________________________
Brown: _________________________________
Cuff : _________________________________
Dahl: _________________________________
Hint: Place a cross in the columns that show what occupations these people CANNOT be first.
20
Brain Bender 12
Answer Occupations
Students should fill in the grid provided to help them solve the problem.
Abel Brown Cuff Dahl Ellis

Bus Driver x x x x
Police Officer x x x x
Salesperson x x x x
Teacher x x x x
Plumber x x x x
• The first, second and third clues mean that neither Dahl nor
Ellis are the police officer or the bus driver. Xs should be
placed in those four boxes.
• The fourth clue means that Cuff is not the car salesperson
or the bus driver or the police officer. Xs should be placed in
those three boxes.
• The sixth clue means that Cuff is not the teacher. So Cuff is
the plumber. One tick and four Xs should be placed in the
bottom row.
• The fifth clue means that Brown is not the police officer.
So Abel is the police officer. One tick and four Xs should be
placed in the left column.
• So Brown is the bus driver. A tick and two more Xs should be
placed in Brown’s column.
• The seventh and eighth clue together mean that Dahl is not
the teacher. The grid can now be completed.
So the answer is: Abel is the police officer, Brown is the bus
driver, Cuff is the plumber, Dahl is the salesperson and Ellis
is the teacher.
21
Pocket Money
Gemma and Louise have just been given their pocket money. Gemma thinks that she
might have less pocket money than Louise so she suggests that they put their money
together and share it.
Louise, who knows how much each of them have been given, agrees, as long as
Gemma can guess how much Louise has been given. She gives Gemma the following
information:
“If you give me one dollar, I will have twice as much as you. If I give you one dollar we
will each have the same amount.”
How much pocket money did each of them get?
Use the grid to help you solve the problem.
Pocket Money If Gemma Gave Louise $1 If Louise Gave Gemma $1

Gemma’s Louise’s Gemma’s Louise’s Gemma’s Louise’s
Money Money money money money money
Louise $_____
Gemma $_____
E.g., assume that Gemma has $2 and then test your guess in the table.
Hint: To solve the problem you need to guess and check.
22
Brain Bender 13
Answer Pocket Money
Students should complete the grid to solve the problem.
Gemma will have as much as Louise, if Louise gives her one dollar.
So Louise must have two dollars more than Gemma.
Guess and check some combinations.
If Gemma Gave Louise $1 If Louise Gave Gemma $1

Gemma’s Louise’s Gemma’s Louise’s Gemma’s Louise’s
Money Money money money money money
2 4 1 5 3 3
3 5 2 6 4 4
4 6 3 7 5 5
5 7 4 8 (4 x 2 = 8) 6 6
So the answer is: Louise has $7 and Gemma has $5.
23
The Race
Alf, Ben, Carl, David and Edgar often find themselves running against each other in
track events. In the latest race, Carl was not first. David was two places behind Edgar,
who was not second. Alf was neither first nor last and Ben was one place below Carl.
Place the runners in the order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) in which they finished the
race. To help you solve the problem, complete the grid provided.
Runners 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Carl
David
Edgar
Alf
Ben
Hint: Remember to mark which places the boys cannot cross the finishing line on the grid.
24
Brain Bender 14
Answer The Race
Students should complete a grid to work out this problem.
The first sentence allows us to eliminate Carl from finishing first. The
second statement means that David cannot be first, second or fourth
and that Edgar is not second. The last statement means that Alf was
not first or last and Ben was not first. This means that Edgar is first.
From this information, we can then deduce that David is third, Ben is
fifth, Carl is fourth and Alf is second.
So the answer is: Edgar = First

Alf = Second
David = Third
Carl = Fourth
Ben = Fifth
Runners 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Carl x x x x
David x x x x
Edgar x x x x
Alf x x x x
Ben x x x x
25
Who’s Wearing What?

Lauren, Hannah and Paris are dressed to go on a picnic with Grampa.
Use the following clues to find out who is wearing what.
Clue 1 Hannah and Paris are both wearing shoes or

are both not wearing shoes.
Clue 2 Lauren is wearing a hat.
Clue 3 Everyone who is wearing shorts has a hat.
Clue 4 Everyone who has a hat is wearing shorts.
Clue 5 Nobody is wearing shorts and shoes.
Clue 6 At least two people are wearing shoes.
You might use the following grid to help you find out what each girl is wearing. Clue
one provides two alternatives to test.
Alternative 1: Lauren Hannah Paris

Shoes
Hat
Shorts
Alternative 2: Lauren Hannah Paris

Shoes
Hat
Shorts
Lauren is wearing ________________________

Hannah is wearing ________________________
Paris is wearing ________________________
26
Brain Bender 15
Answer Who’s Wearing What?
Students should fill in the grids provided to solve the problem.
Option A:
Lauren Hannah Paris

Shoes
Hat
Shorts
Option B:
Lauren Hannah Paris

Shoes x x
Hat
Shorts
The first clue allows both option A and option B, but the sixth clue
eliminates option B. The rest of the clues lead to the following:
Lauren Hannah Paris

Shoes x
Hat x x
Shorts x x
So the answer is: Lauren is wearing a hat and shorts and

Hannah and Paris are wearing shoes.
27
Merry-Go-Round
Thirty children ride on a merry-go-round. Every girl rides immediately behind a boy.
Half of the boys ride immediately behind girls and the other half of the boys ride
immediately behind boys.
How many boys were on the merry-go-round?
How many girls were on the merry-go-round?
_____ boys _____ girls

(Remember that because the merry-go-round is round, the front and the tail of the line will join.)
Hint: Guess and check. Draw a picture. Start with BGBG etc, and then change some boys to girls until the criteria is met.
28
Brain Bender 16
Answer Merry-Go-Round
Students should adopt a guess and check approach to answer this problem.
Method 1:
Draw a picture. Start with BGBG etc, and then change some
boys to girls until the criteria is met. (Remember that because
the merry-go-round is round, the front and the tail of the line
will join.)
Method 2: (for older or more advanced children)

The 30 children are made up of the following groups:
A: Girls - they all ride behind boys.

B: Boys who ride behind boys.
C: Boys who ride behind girls.
B and C must have the same number of children because

half of the boys ride behind boys, so the other half must ride
behind girls.
A and C must have the same number of children because if

they were not the same, there would be a girl riding behind a
girl.
So now we have three sets of children, each with the same

number.
So there are ten girls and 20 boys.
29
Friends in a Line
Jenny is standing in a line with her friends. There are two more friends standing ahead
of her in the line, than there are standing behind her. There are three times as many of
her friends in the line altogether (do not count Jenny) as there are behind her.
How many friends are ahead of Jenny in the line?
Jenny
_____ friends ahead of Jenny.

It may help to draw Jenny and her friends in the line.
Hint: Guess the number of friends standing ahead of Jenny, then use the information to check.
30
Brain Bender 17
Answer Friends in a Line
Students should adopt a guess and check approach.
If students begin with the lowest possible number of friends who

could be standing in the line, their second guess should be correct.
Behind Me In front of me Total Friends

1 person 3 people 4 3x1 = 3
2 people 4 people 6 3x2 = 6
So the answer is: there are four friends ahead of Jenny in the line.
31
Farmer Brown’s Farm

Farmer Brown’s farm is made up of three square blocks. He plans to give each of his
four children an equal share of the farm. He wants to divide the land so that each
child will receive the same amount of land in exactly the same shape.
Show how Farmer Brown can divide the farm.
Hint: It may help to divide each square into four smaller squares.
32
Brain Bender 18
Answer Farmer Brown’s Farm
Students should use a guess and check approach to solve the problem.
It is clear that each child will receive three quarters of a square block.
So divide each square into quarters. Since each child has to receive
three of the little squares, it can be subdivided as shown below.
Child 1 Child 1 Child 3 Child 3
Child 1 Child 2 Child 2 Child 3
Child 2 Child 4
Child 4 Child 4
33
Arohana’s Marbles
Arohana dropped his marble jar and all the marbles spilled out. Arohana picked
up some marbles and Rapana picked up twice as many. Arohana gave Rapana four
marbles. Rapana gave Arohana twice as many marbles as Arohana then had.
How many marbles did Rapana then have?
Picked up Gives Rapana Gives Arohana
Arohana
Rapana
_____ marbles
Hint: How many marbles did Arohana pick up? Guess and check.
34
Brain Bender 19
Answer Arohana’s Marbles
Students adopt a guess and check approach.
At first sight this problem might seem to not have enough

information.
Students need to guess how many marbles Arohana picked up.
For example, suppose Arohana picked up six marbles. Then Rapana
picked up twelve marbles. Arohana gave four marbles to Rapana so he
then had two marbles and Rapana had sixteen. Then Rapana gave four
to Arohana so Rapana had twelve.
No matter what values you start with, Rapana will always finish
with twelve marbles.
35
The Wine Barrels

A wine merchant left thirty barrels of wine to be divided evenly among his
three sons. Ten barrels were full of wine, ten were half- full and ten were
empty.
How can the wine be shared so that each son gets the same number of
barrels and the same amount of wine without pouring any wine from
one barrel to another?
Use the table below to help you to solve the problem.
1st son ___Full barrel(s) ____Half- full barrel(s) ____Empty barrel(s)
2nd son ___Full barrel(s) ____Half- full barrel(s) ____Empty barrel(s)
3rd son ___Full barrel(s) ____Half- full barrel(s) ____Empty barrel(s)
Hint: There is more than one solution.
36
Brain Bender 20
Answer The Wine Barrels
There are a number of possible solutions to this problem.
Solution one:
Full Half Empty
(1s) (1/2s) (0s)
1st son 4 2 4
2nd son 3 4 3
3rd son 3 4 3
Solution two:
Full Half Empty
(1s) (1/2s) (0s)
1st son 5 0 5
2nd son 5 0 5
3rd son 0 10 0
Solution three:
Full Half Empty
(1s) (1/2s) (0s)
1st son 5 0 5
2nd son 3 4 3
3rd son 2 6 2
Solution four:
Full Half Empty
(1s) (1/2s) (0s)
1st son 1 8 1
2nd son 5 0 5
3rd son 4 2 4
37
38
Brain Busters
39
Bank Accounts
Three girls; Amy, Beatrice and Chloe, are discussing their bank accounts, which
together add to less than $5000. Each girl makes two statements. Only one of the two
statements made by each girl is true because they are trying to mislead each other.
Read the statements below to help you work out how much money each girl has in
her bank account
Amy: Beatrice: Chloe:

• I have $200 more • I have more than • I have $300 less than
than Beatrice (A1). Amy (B1). Amy (C1).
• I have half as much • I have $1200 (B2). • I have six times as
as Chloe (A2). much as Beatrice (C2).
Amy: Beatrice: Chloe:
$___________ $___________ $___________
work from there. If this doesn’t work, assume that A1 is false and A2 is true and so on.
Hint: To solve the problem you need to make an assumption. For example, assume that A1 is true and A2 is false and
40
Brain Bender 21
Answer Bank Accounts

Students should use a guess and check approach and make assumptions as they work through the
problem.
If students assume that A2 is true, then C1 must be false, so C2 is

true.
This means that B1 must be false, so B2 must be true.
So B has $1200, C has $7200 and A has $3600.
These amounts though, add to more than $5000. So the

assumption that A2 is true must be false, so A1 must be true.
If A1 is true, then B1 must be false, so B has $1200 and A has

$1400.
C2 must be false or the total would be more than $5000. So C1 is

true and C has $1100.
So the answer is:

A has $1400, B has $1200 and C has $1100.
The students may find it helpful to set the statements out as shown
below and write in the truth value of each statement. The starting
assumption is in bold.
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
F T F T F T
T F F T T F
41
Pages in a Book
A book is made of folded sheets of paper. Each sheet of paper makes four pages of
the book. If the book was pulled apart, one of the sheets of paper would have page
68 on the left-hand side and page 131 on the right-hand side.
How many pages are in the book altogether?
Page 68 Page 131
_____ pages
may help to make a small book with a few pages to help you answer these questions.
page 68?” “How many pages are there between page 68 and 131?” and “How many pages are there after page 131?” It
Hint: To solve this problem, work out the number of pages that are missing. Ask yourself, “How many pages come before
42
Brain Bender 22
Answer Pages in a Book

Students will arrive at the answer by making a model of a book.
Method 1: Ask students to fold a sheet of A4 paper and

label the numbers on it. The back of page 68 is page
67. So 67 pages have come before page 68, therefore
67 pages must be after page 131. So the total number Page 68 Page 131
of pages is 198 (i.e. 131 + 67).
Method 2: Ask students to make a small book from,

say, a few pieces of paper folded in half, and number
each page. Get your students to take note that the
sum of the page numbers on each side of every sheet
is the same, and is one more than the number on the
last page.
Relate this to the given problem and this gives a
total number of 198 pages: 68 + 131 – 1 = 198
43
Connecting Cables to Houses

Five houses are connected to one another using an old-fashioned cabling system in
which every house has to be connected to every other house.
1. Below are five houses connected to each other using the old-fashioned
cabling system. Count the number of cables needed. Hint: Use a highlighter
pen to help you count.
_____ cables
2. If there are ten houses in the village, how many cables are needed?
_____ cables
Hint: (Question 2) draw or model the ten houses using counters or straws.
44
Brain Bender 23
Answer Connecting Cables to Houses
To answer the second question students may need to model the houses and cables using
counters and straws, or may be able to see that a pattern has emerged in question one.
Question 1:
Students should count the cables in the diagram. There
are ten of them.
So the answer is ten cables.
Question 2:
Students may be able to recognise that nine cables are
required to connect the first house to all of the other
houses. Only eight cables are needed to connect the
second house to the other houses because it is already
connected to the first house. Similarly, to connect the
third house to the system, only seven cables are required
and so on. So the figures which students need to add up
are 9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1= 45
So the answer is: forty-five cables for ten houses.
45
Weighing the Marble

Suppose you have eight marbles, one of which is slightly lighter than the other seven,
which all weigh the same.
Using a balance scale, explain how you can identify the lighter marble by using
the scale only twice.
46
Brain Bender 24
Answer Weighing the Marble
Students should try alternative lines of investigation when they realise that their initial
attempts are not productive.
Set two marbles aside. Put the remaining six on the balance scale.
Two things can occur:
1. They are evenly balanced, in which case the lighter marble is one
of the two marbles set aside. If this happens, put the two marbles
that have been set aside, on the balance and find the lighter one.
2. The six (three on each pan) are not evenly balanced. Take the three
containing the lighter marble and put one aside and the other two
on the balance. If they balance, the lighter marble is the one set
aside. If they don’t balance, the lighter marble can be determined
from the weighing.
47
Brother and Sister

A boy, when asked the age of himself and his sister replies:
“Three years ago I was

seven times as old as my
sister, two years ago I was
four times as old, last year I
was three times as old, and
this year I am two and a
half times as old”.
Sister’s age Brother’s age

3 years ago
2 years ago
Last year
This year
How old are the children this year?
Brother’s Age:___________ Sister’s Age: ___________

Hint: Guess and check.
48
Brain Bender 25
Answer Brother and Sister
Students adopt a guess and check approach to solve this problem.
Students should use the grid provided to help them solve the
problem. They should guess the sister’s age and the brother’s age
3 years ago and work forward. They should alter their guesses
accordingly.
The answer is:

this year the
brother is ten
and the sister is
four.
49
Derryn and James

Derryn is 15 years old and James is 17 years old.
The sum of the digits of their two ages is (1+5+1+7)= 14.

1. How old were they when this last happened?
To help you solve this problem, fill in the grid provided.
Derryn James Sum of digits
15 17 14
Derryn’s Age:_______ James’ Age: ______
2. How many times will this happen again and what will be their ages?
Assume that neither of them reaches a three-digit age.
_______ times
Hint: Guess and check. To solve question 2 look for a pattern in your answer to question 1.
50
Brain Bender 26
Answer Derryn and James

Students should fill in the grid provided and see if they can recognise patterns between
numbers.
1. Filling in the grid should help students arrive at the

answer that the last time the sum of the digits of
their two ages was fourteen was when Derryn was
six and James was eight.
2. This will happen five more times as shown in the
table below. Students should note that their ages
increase by nine years each time.
The following is a list of all the possibilities.
Derryn James
6 8
15 17
24 26
33 35
42 44
51 53
60 62
51
Egg Timer
1. What is the easiest way to time the boiling of an egg for eleven minutes
using only a three-minute egg timer and a seven-minute egg timer?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Using the same timers, what is the easiest way to

time the boiling of an egg for eight minutes?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Hint: You can start the timer(s) before you begin to boil the egg.
52
Brain Bender 27
Answer Egg Timer
Students should use a guess and check approach.
Answer to Question 1
Start the two timers at the same time. When the three-
minute timer runs out, start boiling the egg. When the
seven-minute timer runs out (four minutes later) start the
seven-minute timer again. When that finishes, the egg has
boiled for eleven minutes.
Answer to Question 2
To boil an egg for eight minutes start the two timers
together and restart the three-minute timer when that
timer finishes. When it finishes the second time start boiling
the egg.
There was one minute left in the seven-minute timer, so
when it finishes flip it over, and when it finishes the second
time the egg has boiled for eight minutes.
53
Filling the Bath

When the taps on a bath are fully turned on, the hot tap can fill the bath in twelve
minutes and the cold tap can fill it in four minutes. If both taps were turned on
together, what is the shortest length of time it would take to fill the bath?
_____ minutes
54
Brain Bender 28
Answer Filling the Bath
Students solve a simpler version of the problem first.
After twelve minutes we will have run four full

baths of water (three cold and one hot). So if it
takes twelve minutes to fill four full baths then
it will take three minutes to fill one bath.
or
After two minutes the bath will be half full from

the cold tap and one sixth full from the hot tap.
So it will be two thirds full in two minutes. So it
will be full in three minutes.
55
56

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Ebook Code: REAU0071

Title: Brain Benders 2 Acknowledgements for Front Cover

ISBN: 978 1 86397 780 7

The Apple Thief 12

Why have we written this book?

What is different about this book?

How might you use this book?

Barry Brocas and Brenda Bicknell

How do you rate this Brain Bender?

Answer The Jellybeans

Answer The Eggs

Students use computation to solve this problem.

So the answer is 12 eggs.

Animals in the Zoo

Hint: There are many possible solutions to this problem.

How do you rate this Brain Bender?

The Lily Pond

Answer Animals in the Zoo

Answer The Lily Pond

Students work backwards to solve this problem.

Note: Every stick remaining must be part of a square.

How do you rate this Brain Bender?

Answer Six Squares

Method 1: Trial and error

Answer Nine Squares

Since the removal of four sticks takes

The Apple Thief

How do you rate this Brain Bender?

Farmer Smith’s Troughs

Answer The Apple Thief

Students need to work backwards to solve this problem.

To his one remaining apple, add the two that he

Answer Farmer Smith’s Troughs

The two lines shown

Frog in the Well

Answer Frog in the Well

Students may want to draw a vertical time-line to solve this problem.

After one hour, the frog will be one metre

Clue 1 The sister sits in seat

Seat Person Main Meal Drink

Answer Out to Dinner

Seat Person Main Meal Drink

2 Mother chicken orange juice

3 Father steak tomato juice

4 Brother fish apple juice

The Computer Thieves

The statements are:

Who put the computers in the van?

Drawing several grids like the one below to

Davis Mills Giles

Passed them out

Broke the window

Davis Giles Mills

Answer The Computer Thieves

Students should make assumptions then check that their assumptions

Davis Mills Giles

Passed them out x x

Broke the window x x x

So the answer is: Mills put the computers in the van.

4. The car salesperson has tried unsuccessfully to sell Cuff a car.

Abel Brown Cuff Dahl Ellis

Abel Brown Cuff Dahl Ellis

Pocket Money If Gemma Gave Louise $1 If Louise Gave Gemma $1

Answer The Jellybeans

Answer The Eggs

Answer Animals in the Zoo

Answer The Lily Pond

Answer Six Squares

Answer Nine Squares

Answer The Apple Thief

Answer Farmer Smith’s Troughs

Answer Frog in the Well

Answer Out to Dinner

Answer The Computer Thieves

Answer Pocket Money

Answer The Race

Answer Who’s Wearing What?

_ boys _ girls

Answer Friends in a Line

Answer Farmer Brown’s Farm

Answer Arohana’s Marbles

1st son _Full barrel(s) Half- full barrel(s) __Empty barrel(s)

2nd son _Full barrel(s) Half- full barrel(s) __Empty barrel(s)

3rd son _Full barrel(s) Half- full barrel(s) __Empty barrel(s)

Answer The Wine Barrels

$_____ $_ $_______

Answer Bank Accounts

Answer Pages in a Book

Answer Connecting Cables to Houses

Answer Weighing the Marble