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  Number and Math Play

Painting by the Numbers		  
Q Two painters can paint two rooms in two hours. If 12 rooms have to be painted in six hours, how many painters do you need?


  
A The two painters need one hour to paint one room. In six hours, the original two painters can paint six rooms. You'll have to double the number of painters to four if you want twelve rooms painted in six hours.

STRATEGY: Make it simpler.

Source: Puzzle 3-4 (p. 28) inIQ Puzzles,compiled by Joe Cameron, New York: Barnes & Noble, 2000.