The Dishes Problem


"How many guests are there?" said the official. "I don't know.", said the cook, "but every 2 used a dish of rice, every 3 used a dish of broth, and every 4 used a dish of meat between them". There were 65 dishes in all. How many guests were there?

Let us denote x as the total number of guests who were there. Then:
-       x/2 dishes of rice
-       x/3 dishes of broth
-       x/4 dishes of meat
Also, the sum of the above equals to 65, which is the total number of dishes that were used to serve the guests:
->  x/2 + x/3 + x/4 = 65
->   (13x)/12 = 65
->  x = 60
Therefore, the total number of guests is 60.


1. Whether it makes a difference to our students to offer examples, puzzles and histories of mathematics from diverse cultures (or from 'their' cultures!).

I think it is very important for us, as teachers, to introduce our future students as many various problems from diverse cultures as possible. In multicultural Canadian classrooms, simply introducing mathematics from a variety of cultures definitely can help students to value other cultures and also to widen how they can see the world differently.


2. Whether the word problem/ puzzle story matters or makes a difference to our enjoyment of solving it.

I personally feel that word problem is quite challenging as it requires both linguistic and mathematical skills to figure out. However, solving challenging word problems definitely gives me lots of satisfaction and I often find it quite enjoyable as well.

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