TO CELEBRATE National Science and Technology Month, let us look at nifty puzzles and the lighter side of mathematics.

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous sent the following brainteaser:

“Lend me a peso,” says Ana to Maria. “You’ve got twice as much as I have.” “No,” says Maria. “Then I’d have only one and a half times as much as you.” How much does Maria have?

Think about this for a while. Did you get the answer?

Norwegian math test

The following vignette has been circulating in the math community for a while, but this, with some editing, is the most humorous version forwarded by my colleague Ateneo math professor Catherine Vistro-Yu.

A Norwegian worker wants a job, but the boss won’t hire him until he passes a math test. “First, without using numbers, represent the number nine,” says the boss.

“Dat’s easy,” the Norwegian says, and draws three trees. “Tree and tree and tree make nine.”

“Okay,” says the boss. “Next, again do not use numbers, but represent the number 99.”

The Norwegian picks up the picture he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree. “Dar ya go. Each of da trees is dirty now. So it’s dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree. Dat is 99.”

To confound the Norwegian, the boss says, “Last question, same rules, but represent the number 100.”

The Norwegian stares into space, then he picks up the picture again and makes a little mark at the base of each tree. “Dar ya go. Von hundred.”

“What?”

“A little dog come along and pooped by each tree. So now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, vich makes von hundred. So when do I start?”

Word play

This e-mail has also been circulating for some time. This version was sent by Metrobank Outstanding Teacher award winner Elena Cutiongco. Anagrams are words with the same letters arranged in a different order. The clever thing about the following anagrams is that, scientific or not, they make a lot of sense:

Dormitory - Dirty room

Astronomer - Moon starer

Desperation - A rope ends it

The eyes - They see

The Morse Code - Here come dots

Slot machines - Cash lost in me

Animosity - Is no amity

Election results - Lies—let’s recount

Snooze alarms - Alas, no more z’s

A decimal point - I’m a dot in place

The earthquakes -That queer shake

And my favorite: Eleven plus two - Twelve plus one

The mathtitudes

Here are an unknown teacher’s math counterparts of the Beatitudes, forwarded by Ateneo associate professor Rafael Saldana. He came upon the Mathtitudes in a poster in Hawaii in 2003.

“Blessed are the mathematical in spirit, for they shall see patterns and relationships.
“Blessed are those who mourn over their poor results in math, for they shall be taught.
“Blessed are the mathematically meek, for they shall gain confidence with practice.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after mathematical knowledge, for they shall be filled.
“Blessed are the slow and unsteady in computation, for their calculators shall comfort them.
“Blessed are the logical, for they shall see the beauty of proof.
“Blessed are those who prepare for their math tests, for success will be theirs.
“Blessed are the rational, for they shall understand fractions.
“Blessed are those who do their math homework regularly, for they shall learn the most.
“Rejoice in the study of mathematics for great will be your reward in life.”

Love and math

And who says love and math do not mix? A heart can be expressed by an equation and drawn on the plane. Saldana directs us to his blog http://raffysaldana.blogspot.
com/2009/02/heart-equation-and-mathematics-of-love.html for a discussion of math and love.

“I also started a discussion on Facebook on the connection between love and math,” says Raffy. “My purpose is to make my students appreciate the beauty of math and to show that math can be fun.”

Answer to the brainteaser:

Maria has P10 pesos, while Ana has P5.

E-mail the author at blessbook@yahoo.com.