maths riddle

[traceyfarrar]

There are 7 girls in a bus.
Each girl has 7 backpacks.
In each backpack, there are 7 big cats.
For every big cat, there are 7 little cats.
Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

[squarebear]

7 girls x 2 legs = 14
7 x 7 x 7 big cats x 4= 1372
7 x 7 x 7 x 7 little cats x 4= 9604

14+1372+9604=10990 legs altogether

[paperback]

plus two presuming theres a driver lol

[madmaz89]

210 legs!!!! i think!

[squarebear]

Dare I ask how you get 210 legs?

[tombrandy]

The riddle is all wrong,and the correct answer to the correct riddle is 72,
P.s. the riddle is about 20years old,

[squarebear]

Why is it 72?

[piggling]

Think the original riddle asks how many legs ON the bus & the answer is 0 as a bus has wheels.

[tombrandy]

72 ?
The riddle was ,7 girls get on a bus ,each girl has a backpack,in each backpack there are 7 large cats,each big cat has a little kitten,how many legs were on the bus,?
Most people would say 70 and forget the driver.

[squarebear]

There was no mention of any driver on the bus. In that case you could assume there was an octopus and 3 elephants.

7 girls x 2 legs = 14
7 x 7 large cats x 4=196
7 x 7 kittens x 4 = 196

14+196+196=406

[squarebear]

I might as well have. This riddle makes no sense.

[tombrandy]

I have just had a thought what if the cats come from the Isle of Man?

[squarebear]

Then they would still have 4 legs but no tail.


<----- begins to wish he hadn't bothered with htis "riddle">

[Gizmonster]

I dunno where everyone else is getting there answers from, but Squarebear is correct .................

In each backpack, there are a total of 56 cats (7 big cats and 49 little cats - 7 big cats in each backpack and each big cat has 7 little cats).

There are 7 girls and each girl has 7 back packs making a total of 49 backpacks.

49 back packs, each containing 56 cats = a total of 2744 cats.

2744 cats = 10976 legs ( 2744 x 4 = 10976 ) ...........

............ plus the 14 legs of the 7 girls = 10976 + 14 = 10990

This is not taking into account the driver or any play on words in the puzzle.

[squarebear]

Thanks Gizmonster. Even Tom's alternate version comes to 406 legs.

[gen2]

Hi foks. This is a chain email that has been doing the rounds for about a year now. It has a locked spreadsheet as an attachment. The password to get in is the answer to this riddle. Once you get in, you add your name to a list that says 'Look how clever I am' and then you send it to 10 more people.

My advice - just bin it like I did.

[nightmare]

The riddle as stated could, in principle, have any answer you like, up to the maximum correct answer.
Some or all of the girls and/or cats could be amputees (multiple or single).......................................