Here's something my teacher gave us. I haven't worked it out:

In a family there are three boys. The product of their ages is 36. The sum of their ages is the same as the number of the house next door. The eldest one of the boys plays drums.

How old are the boys?

Oh my god, I hate those things. I`m just too stupid to understand them =( But fun for those who can manage it.

What's the number of the house next door...if we don't have it we can put any age for the three boys(that equal 36).

1, 2 and 3 assuming you mean sum-product

Well if thats all the teaser than you are probably thinking about it too hard. The only valid information you need to pay attention to is 36 is the product of three numbers... Which is a VERY easy thing to come up with. in fact I already have three possibles.

9 2 2
9 4 1
6 3 2

The specific instructions I recieved was: The solution has to be one that you can't question in any way. For example, if you say the boys are 18, 2 and 1, you have to explain why it couldn't be 6, 3 and 2.

So there's only one right answer (I presume)

Quote from CobraDrifter :

What's the number of the house next door...if we don't have it we can put any age for the three boys(that equal 36).

Its just additional information to mess up your brain - or he missed the information when posting...

Quote from hyntty :

The specific instructions I recieved was: The solution has to be one that you can't question in any way. For example, if you say the boys are 18, 2 and 1, you have to explain why it couldn't be 6, 3 and 2.

Because a 6 year old plays pots and pans not drums . . . lol Thats all I have.

Quote from hyntty :

The specific instructions I recieved was: The solution has to be one that you can't question in any way. For example, if you say the boys are 18, 2 and 1, you have to explain why it couldn't be 6, 3 and 2.

You can't really explain....but you can invent some things.

9*2*2=36 9+2+2=13 wich is the number of the house next door.
They had one boy(9ye.) then two 2 years old twin when the older one was 7 years old & started playing drums at 9.

Quote from CobraDrifter :

9*3*3=36 .

WAT?

As CobraDrifter says that's impossible to answer without knowing the number of the house nextdoor.

Some possible answers...

2x3x6=36
1x6x6=36 (twins!)
1x3x12=36
1x2x18=36
2x2x9=36
1x4x9=36

Edit: Wow I'm slow!

Again, it isn't about the math, it's the house next door and the drums.

C'mon, use your brains, my teacher promised a bottle of champagne to the one who cracks it

Quote from hyntty :

WAT?

9*2*2 sorry :S

Quote from CobraDrifter :

You can't really explain....but you can invent some things.

9*3*3=36 9+3+3=15 wich is the number of the house next door.
They had one boy(9ye.) then two 3 years old twin when the older one was 6 years old & started playing drums at 9.

9*3 = 27 * 3 = 81 (NOT 36 lol)

But yes, answer still stands - make up a reason since the 3 numbers just need to be a product, there is no right or wrong answer unless your post is missing information.

I agree with others it has to be 2,2 and 9

The house next door is 13 which is always the number of houses in horror movies http://cgi.ebay.com.au/The-Hou ... 90210188911QQcmdZViewItem

The boys are 2, 2 and 9 (two youngest are twins)

No other answer works.

1*1*36 - 38
1*2*18 - 21
1*3*12 - 16
1*4*9 - 14
1*6*6 - 13
2*2*9 - 13
2*3*6 - 11
3*3*4 - 10

So, the house number must be 13, as otherwise that part wouldn't be sufficient to narrow it down.

They ask for the eldest son, implying one, so it can't be the two six year old twins, therefore it must be two 2 year old twins and a 9 year old drummer.

PM me for where to send the champagne to

36, 1, 1: Wrong, 36 is too old to be called a boy.
18, 2, 1: Could be.
12, 3, 1: Could be.
9, 4, 1: Could be.
9, 2, 2: Could be.
6, 6, 1: Questionable, there is no single oldest kid.
6, 3, 2: Questionable, 6 is too young to be playing drums (is it?).

Still many solutions left. Unless the youngest two happen to be twins, then there is only 1 possibility: 9, 2, 2.

Can't say I see any way to come to a unique solution. Were you given this in Finnish? If so, could you post that too, please?

edit: 'the house next door' (13) is the only way I guess.

Perheessä on kolme poikaa. Poikien ikien tulo on 36. Ikien summa on sama kuin naapuritalon numero. Vanhin pojista soittaa rumpuja.

Quote from hyntty :

Perheessä on kolme poikaa. Poikien ikien tulo on 36. Ikien summa on sama kuin naapuritalon numero. Vanhin pojista soittaa rumpuja.

that helped a lot

Heh... FYI me and a few of my friends have been trying to solve this, but it's no help. I was kind of hoping here would be some mastermind who'd pown us all.

I just did....

Cheating didn't work either

Quote from Google :

Your search - "Poikien ikien tulo on 36" - did not match any documents

Well what if the house is on the other side of the road? Where the house numbers are even?

What? Don't invent stuff! We don't know what side of the road has odd or even numbers, or whether the numbers are consecutive around in a loop. But you don't need to know that.