> Okay. I got presented with this puzzle by a friend, and I can't figure it out. (I'm an art major, not a math major, darnit!) The puzzle is this -
>
> A man weighs 100 pounds plus half of his weight. How much does he weigh?
>
> I know the answer isn't 150 lbs, because the 'half of his weight' thing refers to half of his TOTAL weight, not half of the 100 lbs. So the equation I came up with was something like this...
>
> 100 + 1/2x = y
>
> and even though I've scribbled all over a piece of paper, I cannot for the life of my answer the darn thing. I'm not even sure if I set up the equation right, or if I'm overcomplicating it, or what... there's a very good reason why I'm not a math major. ;) So, anyone want to give me a hand?
>
> Sosi"heeeeelp..."qui

Good effort, but the wrong approach. The equation you want is

100 + 1/2x = x

Because if x is his total weight, then his total weight is 100 plus half his total weight, and you only need one variable. So subtract 1/2x from each side, and you get 1/2x=100, so x=200. Work it out, and his weight is 100 plus half his weight, or 100 + 100. Make sense now?

Don "Math Lover" Monkey