While house hunting in London, I came across a very good leasehold property Discussing the lease the landlady told me:
'The property was originally on a 99 years lease and two-thirds of the time passed is equal to four-fifths of the time to come. Now work it out for yourself and see how many years are to go!
Two natural numbers have a sum of less than 100 and are greater than one.
John knows the product of the numbers and Jacob knows the sum of numbers.
The following conversation takes place between them:
John: 'I am not aware of those numbers.'
Jacob: 'I knew you wouldn't be. I am not aware myself.'
John: 'Now I know them!'
Jacob: 'Now I know them, too!'
In case you were starting to feel confident, this one was meant for third graders in Vietnam. The answer is 66, but we don't blame you for scratching your head about how they got there.
James ordered a fishing rod, priced at $3.56. Unfortunately, James is an Eskimo who lives in a very remote part of Greenland and the import rules forbid any package longer than 4 feet to be imported. The fishing rod was 4 feet and 1 inch, just a little too long, so how can the fishing rod be mailed to James without breaking the rules? Ideally James would like the fishing rod to arrive in one piece!
An infinite number of mathematicians are standing behind a bar. The first asks the barman for half a pint of beer, the second for a quarter pint, the third an eighth, and so on. How many pints of beer will the barman need to fulfill all mathematicians' wishes?