Who is Chris?

At a party, there were 19 females, 12 males, 14 adults and 17 children. Then, Chris arrived and the number of different man-woman couples became equal to the number of boy-girl couples.

Is Chris a man, a woman, a boy or a girl?

Note: If there were 9 boys and 8 girls at the party, then there would have been 72 (9x8) boy-girl couples possible.

a woman a girl a boy a man

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2 solutions

Prakkash Manohar
Mar 28, 2014

Answer: Chris is a Girl.

Note: In the solution below, I am using the name 'Chris' again and again because we don't know whether Chris is 'he' or 'she'.

Before Chris arrived, let M be the number of male adults (men) at the party.

Then, the number of female adults (women) = 14 - M

The number of boys = 12 - M

The number of girls = 5 + M

Now, Chris arrived at the party and Chris is either a man or a woman or a boy or a girl. Let's consider each case one-by-one.

Case I: Let's assume that Chris is a Man. It is given that after Chris arrived, the number of different man-woman couples possible became equal to the number of boy-girl couples possible. Hence,

(M + 1) * (14 - M) = (12 - M) * (5 + M)

which on simplifying gives,

6M = 46

This is impossible as the value of M must be an integer.

Case II: Let's assume that Chris is a woman, then the equation is

(M) * (15 - M) = (12 - M) * (5 + M)

which on simplifying gives,

8M = 60

This is also impossible as the value of M must be integer.

Case III: Let's assume that Chris is a boy, then the equation is

(M) * (14 - M) = (13 - M) * (5 + M)

which on simplifying gives,

8M = 65 This is also impossible as the value of M must be integer.

Case IV: Let's assume that Chris a girl, then the equation is

(M) * (14 - M) = (12 - M) * (6 + M)

which on simplifying gives,

8M = 72

So, M = 9 which is an integer.

Thus, Chris is a Girl. (not really though :p)

Note: I updated the wording of the problem to replace "I" with "Chris".

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years, 2 months ago

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OK, no probs..... :D

Prakkash Manohar - 7 years, 2 months ago

Why are gilrs 5+M?

Dimitris Paltezanakis - 7 years, 2 months ago

Total no. of children - total no. of boys = total no. of girls. Since the number of children is 17 and no. of boys is (12 - M). So, total no. of girls = 17 - (12 - M) = 5 + M

Prakkash Manohar - 7 years, 2 months ago
Saurav Pal
Apr 6, 2014
  1. ADULT: Males=x, Females=14-x. . . . . . .
  2. CHILDREN: Boys=12-x, Girls= 5+x . . . . . . . CASE 1: Chris is a Man: (x+1)(14-x)=(12-x)(5+x) . . . . . . . x=46/6 . . . . . . . . So, Chris is not a man.

CASE 2: Chris is a Woman: x(15-x)=(12-x)(5+x) . . . . . . . . x=60/8 . . . . . . . . So, Chris is not a woman.

CASE 3: Chris is a boy: x(14-x)=(13-x)(5+x) . . . . . . . . . .x=65/6 . . . . . . . . . So, Chris is not a boy.

CASE 4: Chris is a girl: x(14-x)=(12-x)(6+x) . . . . . . . . . . x=9 . . . . . . . . . SO, CHRIS IS A GIRL...................................................................................

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