Nine local bakers were challenged to produce enough muffins for everyone in the village. And they did it! Each baker brought the same number of muffins, and overall there were an equal number of muffins in each of eight different flavours. But the two tables set out to display them were too small.
鈥淐ould we get a third table and share them evenly between three tables?鈥� asked Eccles.
鈥淵es, we could!鈥� said Victoria. But after wheeling in a third table, the tables looked too crowded. A fourth, fifth, sixth and 鈥� finally 鈥� seventh table was wheeled in, and impressively, after each table was added, the original pile of muffins could still be equally divided between the tables.
鈥淲ell, shuffle my muffins!鈥� exclaimed the mathematically astute Madeleine. 鈥淲e made the smallest total of muffins we could have made for which this series of events could have played out!鈥�
How many muffins did the bakers produce in total?
Solution next week
Quick quiz #132
1 In meteorology, an area of high pressure that stays relatively still over a region is known as a what?
2 Vargulin and coelenterazine are examples of which class of light-emitting compound found in bioluminescent organisms?
3 Where would you find Kamo鈥檕alewa?
4 Which highly reactive element has the atomic number 17?
5 What name is given to a juvenile newt?
Answers
1 A block, blocking anticyclone or blocking high
2 Luciferins
3 In space. An asteroid about 40 metres in diameter, it is a quasi-satellite of Earth
4 Chlorine
5 An eft