I'm posting one puzzle, riddle, math, or statistical problem a day. Try to answer each one and post your answers in the comments section. I'll post the answer the next day. Even if you have the same answer as someone else, feel free to put up your answer, too!
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Seventy-Six Going on Eighteen
The famous composer, who wrote the Barber of Seville, blew out 18 candles on his birthday cake. Nine months later, he was dead. He was 76 at the time.
He was born on February 29, and so was only celebrating his birthday for the 18th time. Gioacchino Rossini, was born on February 29, 1792 and died in 1868 at the age of 76. The number of leap years that had passed was 18, since the year 1800 does not have a leap year.
the simplest answer would be that although there were 18 candles on his cake, that does not mean that he was 18. he could have had one candle, or perhaps 100 candles.
also, maybe he was nostalgic, saved his 18th birthday cake with the candles, and lit them up again in 1868. there are hundreds of ways the cake could have been preserved. refridgeration was very expensive and impractical at the time but had already been a known concept since ancient china.
I figured the poor guy had emphysema from a lifetime of smoking non-filtered cigarettes, hence he could only find enough breath to blow out 18 candles!
the simplest answer would be that although there were 18 candles on his cake, that does not mean that he was 18. he could have had one candle, or perhaps 100 candles.
That didn't seem like a very simple set of answers to me.
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One possibility:
ReplyDeleteOn the composer's birthday cake only 18 candles were kept. So he blew out all 18 candles.
Second possibility:
76 candles were kept on his birthday cake, but he was able to blow out only 18.
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ReplyDeleteHis actual birthday fell on a leap year, February 29 and was only able to celebrate 18 times.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking leap year, or seventy six spelled out, with random extras........
ReplyDeleteHe was born on February 29, and so was only celebrating his birthday for the 18th time. Gioacchino Rossini, was born on February 29, 1792 and died in 1868 at the age of 76. The number of leap years that had passed was 18, since the year 1800 does not have a leap year.
ReplyDeletethe simplest answer would be that although there were 18 candles on his cake, that does not mean that he was 18. he could have had one candle, or perhaps 100 candles.
ReplyDeletealso, maybe he was nostalgic, saved his 18th birthday cake with the candles, and lit them up again in 1868. there are hundreds of ways the cake could have been preserved. refridgeration was very expensive and impractical at the time but had already been a known concept since ancient china.
-cheers! -oliver
I figured the poor guy had emphysema from a lifetime of smoking non-filtered cigarettes, hence he could only find enough breath to blow out 18 candles!
ReplyDeletethe simplest answer would be that although there were 18 candles on his cake, that does not mean that he was 18. he could have had one candle, or perhaps 100 candles.
ReplyDeleteThat didn't seem like a very simple set of answers to me.