14 Arithmetic & Algebraic Problemswas born; and I was told yesterday that the average age of the four of us is
thirty-nine years."
What was Robinson's age?- A DREAMLAND CLOCK
In a dream, I was travelling in a country where they had strange ways of
doing things. One little incident was fresh in my memory when I awakened. I
saw a clock and announced the time as it appeared to be indicated, but
my guide corrected me.
He said, "You are apparently not aware that the minute hand always moves
in the opposite direction to the hour hand. Except for this improvement, our
clocks are precisely the same as. those you have been accustomed to."
Since the hands were exactly together between the hours of four and five
oclock, and they started together at noon, what was the real time?- WHAT IS THE TIME?
At what time are the two hands of a clock so situated that, reckoning
as minute points past XII, one is exactly the square of the distance of the other?- THE AMBIGUOUS CLOCK
A man had a clock with an hour hand and minute hand of the same length
and indistinguishable. If it was set going at noon, what would be the first time
that it would be impossible, by reason of the similarity of the hands, to be
sure of the correct time?
Readers will remember that with these clock puzzles there is the convention
that we may assume it possible to indicate fractions of seconds. On this
assumption an exact answer can be given.- THE BROKEN CLOCK FACE
Colonel Crackham asked his family at the breakfast table if, without hav-
ing a dial before them, they could correctly draw in Roman numerals the
hours round a clock face. George fell into the trap that catches so many
people, of writing the fourth hour as IV, instead of I1II.