Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
By Amy Armitage
So I got this email late yesterday and I really had trouble working out the answer. A few of us in the office are going back and forth yelling out random answers.
Here it is…
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?
Does the answer come to you quickly or are you still trying to figure it out?
Hint: I was being all clever and stuff and I counted the bus driver’s legs too. Apparently there isn’t a bus driver, just a bunch of school girls sitting on a bus that’s not moving with too many backpacks and a cat collecting hobby .. lol
Who stuffs that many cats into a backpack anyway? I think I should call the animal protection society ;)
January 30th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
648?
January 30th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I think it is 10,650
January 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Is the answer 10,990?
January 30th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I found also 10990 :)
January 30th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
MY HEAD HURTS!!!! TO MUCH THINKING… I fell asleep counting legs last night!!
January 30th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
749?
January 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Is it 36,701?
January 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
You’re all posting your responses with a ? like I know the answer.. lol
I’m actually not sure but I’ll find out and post it when I do.
January 30th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
10990 legs
January 30th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Todd.. is that your final answer? Are you sure you don’t want to phone a friend?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
7girlsx2legs = 14legs
+
7*7*7 big cats * 4 legs = 1372
+
7*7*7*7 small cats * 4 legs = 9604
= 10990 legs.
Pretty huge bus.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
210 legs = (7 cats * 7 kittens * 4 legs each) + (7 girls * 2 legs each)
January 31st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
10990
49 backs each with 56 cats plus 7 girls
January 31st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
hmmmm
February 1st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
LOL
I hate this game.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:26 am
7Girls*7backbacks*7LargeCats*7LittleCats*4LEGS + 7Girls*2LEGS = 10990 LEGS
Amy, tough question though :D
LOL~
February 6th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
After about a minute of addition in my head I come up with: 10,990
- 7 girls (2 legs) = 14
- 343 big cats (7×7x7) x (4 legs) = 1,372
- 2,401 small cats (7×7x7×7) x (4 legs) = 9,604
Total= 10,990 legs.
I think most people are forgetting “Each girl has 7 backpacks” & “In each backpack, 7 cats” i.e 7×7x7.
Good thing tech support doesn’t require any real quick math ;-).
February 6th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
2548 legs, i did it in my head so i might be wrong
February 7th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
10990 is the answer…put it in and you will see…this was sooo friggin hard!!!
February 10th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Abbas Khan gave his formula:
7Girls*7backbacks*7LargeCats*7LittleCats*4LEGS + 7Girls*2LEGS = 10990 LEGS
but if he did his own math, he would see that his answer should have been 9618 legs. His answer is only counting the legs of the little cats and the girls. He still needs to add in the number of legs of the big cats to get to the correct answer of 10,990. Stephano and Alun explained it the best.
February 11th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
7 Girls “In a bus” = 14 legs
The answer is 14.
Nowhere is it mentioned that the back packs or the cats are “in the bus” otherwise the correct answer would be 10,990
(7 x 2) + (343 x 4) + (2401 x 4) = 10,990 legs total
February 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
10,990 - the excel opens and displays the correct 10,990 !
February 18th, 2008 at 6:23 am
The answer that unlocks it all is 10990. Just got the e-mail and that password worked!
February 19th, 2008 at 10:18 am
The correct answer is 10990
February 19th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Ok the final ANSWER no ?, I spent about an hour, is……… 68,614 Legs!!!!!, not 10990 here is the work
not really, but
7 girls = 49 bags = 343 Cats = 16807 Kittens
Now find the legs! not hard
14 + 1372 + 67,228 = 68,614 Legs
P.S. I did not use a calculator
February 21st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Michael,
343 cats x 7 kittens = 2401 kittens. How did you get 16,807?
I got the same 10,990 answer as explained by a few of the others. Counted the # of girl’s legs then figured out the big cats and their legs then the little cats and their legs and added together.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I date back to the early times….they always taught us to put that comma in there…such as 10,990 and that was my initial answer and could not figure out why it didn’t work as a password…LOL
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Girls= 2legs x 7 girls = 14 total legs
Each backpack has = 7 big cats + 49 little cats = 56 x 4 legs = 224 legs
224 total legs x 7 backpacks = 1568 legs
1568 legs per back pack x 7 girls = 10976 legs +14 girls legs = 10990
February 25th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
7 girls
49 backpacks
343 big cats
2401 little cats
(7×2) + (343×4) + (2401×4)=
14+1372+9604=
10990
my awnser: 10990
February 27th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Here is the ANSWER FROM THE EMAIL AND THE ANSWER AND HOW ITS FIGURED OUT
The answer is 10990.
Here is how I got it …
Calculating the number of legs for 1 girl first:
1 girl = 2 legs
7 backpacks with 7 cats each = 7×7 = 49 big cats –> 49×4= 196 legs
Each big cat has 7 small cats each = 49×7= 343 small cats –> 343×4= 1372 legs
Total number of legs for 1 girl (and her backpack of big/small cats) = 2+196+1372 = 1570
There are 7 girls, therefore total number of legs:
1570×7 = 10990
February 28th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
7 girls x 2 legs = 14 legs (girls)
7 backpacks x 7 big cats = 49 big cats
49 big cats x 4 legs = 196 legs (big cats)
49 big cats x 7 little cats = 343 little cats
343 little cats x 4 legs = 1372 legs (little cats)
total legs = 14 legs + 196 legs + 1372 legs = 1582 legs
February 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
7 girls x 2 legs = 14 legs (girls)
7 girls x 7 backpacks x 7 big cats = 343 big cats
343 big cats x 4 legs = 1372 legs (big cats)
343 big cats x 7 little cats = 2401 little cats
2401 little cats x 4 legs = 9604 legs (little cats)
total legs = 14 legs + 1372 legs + 9604 legs = 10990 legs
February 28th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
10990 i think
February 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
10990
February 28th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
10990 not including the bus driver!!
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
The only thig we know for sure is that there are seven girls on a bus…
we are told that they have seven backpacks each but the backpacks are not necessarily on the bus with them…for this reason will say “Legs on the Bus”?? 14
March 5th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
The clue is the fact that people might multiply by 2 instead of 4?
Legs for the girls are 2, but for cats it’s 4…
March 11th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
If I could delete this question from the fabric of reality, I would.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
its 10990
im positive lol i had it for homework the other night so u i know =P
April 8th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I cheated and sent it to 2 physicists 10990 is correct answer whewwwwwwww
April 8th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
As for a bus driver, this bus don’t need one.. it ain’t movin’n! With around 10 tons of various cats, girls, and backpacks, the tires would be as flat as pancakes!
April 11th, 2008 at 7:45 am
7 girls with 7 backpacks = 49 backpacks
49 backpacks with 7 cats = 343 big cats
each big cat has 7 litten cats = 343×7=2401
(7×2) + (343×4) + (2401×4)
14 + 1372 + 9604 = 10990legs in the bus! This is correct and opened the excel sheet
May 4th, 2008 at 9:31 am
umm wow i just want to no the real answer!!!!!
i got 1568, now im giving it to my math teacher mobley to figure out =]
May 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
i found the answer it was hard but i found it was 1024
May 8th, 2008 at 4:49 am
10,990 is the correct answer - I worked it out and it opened the spreadsheet - it took a few goes though to work this out :-)
May 13th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
7*4=28 <————- little cat
(28+(((7*4)*7)) <— this is how much per bag = 224
(224*7) = 1568 <— there are 7 bags
1568+2 = 1570 <— girl have 2 legs
1570*7 <———— there are 7 girls
Therefore answer is 10990
May 30th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
It is 10990
June 6th, 2008 at 11:08 am
with all those cats, just think of all the kitty litter you’re going to need!!!
June 7th, 2008 at 10:22 am
yep answer is 10,990……..dont know if im ready for a 6th grade question yet! lol
June 11th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
It makes it more fun to get people to do it when you give the hint that the answer is 5 digits and ends with a zero!! They get so frustrated when they get smaller numbers and know it is wrong lol…
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:55 pm
7girls( each girl have 2 legs)
7×2= 14 girls legs
7 backpacks for each of the girls
7×7 =49
7 big cats in each of the 7 bags
49×7=343(bc) x4 legs each = 1372 big cat legs
7 little cat for each big cat
343×7= 2401 x4 legs each = + 9604 little cat legs
__________________
Legs in the bus 10,990 total
Unless there is a bus driver making 2 more legs then
10,992 total legs
August 1st, 2008 at 8:24 am
10,990 legs
7G X 2 legs = 14 legs
7G X 7 backpacks = 49 backpacks
7 Big Cats X 49 backpacks = 343 Big Cats
343 Big Cats x 4 legs = 1,372 legs
343 Big Cats X 7 Little Cats = 2,401 Little Cats
2,401 Little Cats X 4 Legs = 9,604 legs
14 legs + 1,372 legs + 9,604 legs = 10,990 total legs (no mention of a bus driver)
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I got the answer of 10,990 but how do you type that in the password…..10,990 or Ten Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety or can anyone tell me the exact way to type it in the password…..do you leave spaces inbetween or not? only numbers? Capital letters on the words? I have tired everyway and it won’t work.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
ALOT OF PEOPLE R STUPID ITS 10 990 legs OKAY?? THERE GO DO SOMETHING MORE USEFUL U ALL KNOW IT NOW SO BYE.