Last Problem:
A mother cat has spent seven of her nine lives. Some of her kittens have spent six and some have spent only four. Together the mother and her kittens have a total of twenty-five lives left.
Can you tell with certainty how many kittens there are?
Answer:
Since the mother cat has two lives let, the kittens must divide up the remaining twenty-three. That means there are two possible answers: seven kittens (one has five lives left and six has three lives) or five kittens (one with three lives and four with five lives). Thus, you can not tell with certainty how many kittens there are.
Today’s Problem:
In a reading room at the library there are several three-legged stools and four-legged chairs and they are all occupied. If you count thirty-nine legs in the room, is it possible to figure out how many stool, chairs and people there are?