A farmer has a rectangular field twice as long as it is wide. He constructs a straight fence across the field, parallel to the shorter sides, dividing it into two smaller enclosures. One enclosure is a square with an area of 400 square meters. What is the total area of the original field?
800 square meters
The square enclosure has an area of 400, meaning its side length is 20 meters. Since it was cut parallel to the shorter side, the field's width is 20 meters. The length of the field is twice the width, so 2 * 20 = 40 meters. Total area = 20 * 40 = 800.
About this riddle
Logic riddles give you a few facts and ask what must be true. List what you know, cross out what cannot be, and see what is left.
Difficulty: Medium. More like this: Logic riddles with answers or try Einstein's Logic Grid for a different kind of puzzle.
More logic riddles
Five knights stand in a circle facing inward. Each knight has a distinct color shield: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Silver. The Red knight is directly opposite the Blue knight. The Green knight is to the immediate right of the Red knight. The Yellow knight is not adjacent to the Blue knight. Where does the Silver knight stand?
A shepherd needs to cross a river with a wolf, a goat, and a basket of cabbages using a small boat that can only carry the shepherd and one item at a time. However, the wolf cannot be left alone with the goat, and the goat cannot be left alone with the cabbages. To successfully cross the river while keeping everything safe, what is the absolute minimum number of one-way boat trips the shepherd must make from start to finish?
Five runners finish a school marathon, and only these facts survive. Felix finished ahead of Carmen. Nico finished ahead of Felix. Iris finished ahead of Boris. Boris finished ahead of Nico. Who finished fourth?
If you multiply my age by 3, then subtract 10, then divide by 2, you get my exact age plus 5. How old am I?
Five books are stacked on a shelf from top to bottom: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, History, and Art. You pick up the Chemistry book, place it at the very bottom of the stack, and then take the top book of the new stack and place it directly beneath the Biology book. What book is now in the exact middle (third from the top) of the stack?
A cylindrical glass is half full of water. If you pour the water into an identical empty glass, the water level reaches the halfway mark. If you pour all the water from both glasses into a third glass with twice the cross-sectional area of the first two, what fraction of the third glass will be filled?

