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Since I am aiding a Pre-Algebra teacher, I decided to go ahead and look up what Monday's homework should be instead of waiting last minute like I always do.

I've just hit a problem that I can NOT figure out for the life of me. If I assign this segment, then the students will have to do this as thier homework. Now I need to know if SYM can figure it out. Here you go -

Problem 36:
A college student sent a letter home to her parents asking for money. Use the diagram to figure out how much money she is asking for: (This problem uses American dollars)(Please ignore the underscore (_) before "SEND")

_SEND
+MORE
MONEY



...

Doesn't math require, like, numbers?? Is it some kinda logic puzzle thing?

Originally posted by Aqua-chan
(This problem uses English dollars)

I don't know when the last time was that you came to England...

I will edit in the answer if I figure it out...

Dang it! I meant American dollars! ! better go change that...

I fail to see the difficulty in the problem or I just dont understand it. Does it mean something like: The amount of money is dependant on the price of it being sent and the money originally desired? Or the amount of money required is whatever the original amount of money desired is plus the amount it would cost to send the money. Is that what the problem is asking?

I believe that each letter represents a different digit, and you have to divine which stands for which - However, I think that this is not a question with one true answer. Not enogh information is my verdict.

Oh God, I hate puzzles like this one There is enough information to do it (I think you could use simultaneous equations, but I'm not sure), but unless you get lucky with guessing, it could take ages. Spare the poor students and convince the teacher not to assign this.
edit - I just checked, there are ten seperate letters (some are repeated) and each one represents a number (1-9 and 0) so there definitely is enough info.
edit (again) - con'sarn, I can't count It's true, there's only eight ditinct letters.

Originally posted by Beowulf
Spare the poor students and convince the teacher not to assign this.

It gives me a whole new respect for the students who have to do this on a daily basis.

I just skip those problems that confuse me in any way shape or form.

Maybe ... 4289?

_3821
_0468
04289

Originally posted by Phantom Lord
Maybe ... 4289?

3821
0468
04289

Did you just make up numbers or something?

Like I said, I have NO idea. I won't have access to the answer book until tomarrow, and then I have to endure six hours of teaching before I can even post it. You'll all just have to wait.

I could only come up with 8 set of letters...not ten.


1 S
3 E
2 N
1 D
2 M
2 O
1 R
1 Y

13 total letters

Originally posted by Aqua-chan
Like I said, I have NO idea. I won't have access to the answer book until tomarrow, and then I have to endure six hours of teaching before I can even post it. You'll all just have to wait.

Oh but the anticipation of knowing this algebra answer is going to be so aggravating! I dont know if Ill be able to stand it!

Originally posted by Tybaltus
Did you just make up numbers or something?

Yes and no, I guess M can't be 1 and since it can't be bigger than 1 I think it's probably 0.

After that I figured out O=4, E=8, S=3, N=2, R=6, Y=9 and D=1 using try and error. I wonder if my idea is correct ...

Originally posted by Phantom Lord
Yes and no, I guess M can't be 1 and since it can't be bigger than 1 I think it's probably 0.

After that I figured out O=4, E=8, S=3, N=2, R=6, Y=9 and D=1 using try and error. I wonder if my idea is correct ...

From my checking, you have it.

1 S = 3
3 E = 8
2 N = 2
1 D = 1
2 M = 0
2 O = 4
1 R = 6
1 Y = 9

8 numbers within 13 letters and the adding equals.

Originally posted by Weasel
From my checking, you have it.<snip>

... that would be a miracle because I usually fail horribly at this type of puzzle if I encounter one in a newspaper.

Nice job, Phantom. Yeah, the values check out. I think I got a similar problem when I took pre-algebra, but that was a couple years ago.

This is a pre-algebra problem??? Geez. Sounds more like a puzzles and games question.

Originally posted by Tybaltus
This is a pre-algebra problem??? Geez. Sounds more like a puzzles and games question.

**points to Pre-Algebra book**

It came from that thing of darkness and evil!