A rope ladder with rungs spaced one foot apart hangs over the edge of a floating cruise ship, with four rungs above the water line. If the tide rises at a steady rate of eight inches per hour for three hours, how many rungs will remain above water?
4 rungs
The ship and ladder float on top of the water; as the tide elevates the sea, the ship rises with it, keeping the number of exposed rungs unchanged.
About this riddle
Math riddles hide a calculation inside a short story. Pull out the numbers, work out what is being asked, and watch for a trick such as a unit change.
Difficulty: Easy. More like this: Math riddles with answers or try Target 24 for a different kind of puzzle.
More math riddles
On a standard analog 12-hour clock face, how many times do the hour hand and minute hand form an exact overlap between 12:00 noon and 12:00 midnight (including the noon overlap, but excluding midnight)?
Kai puts 4 snowballs in each of 6 boxes. How many snowballs is that altogether?
Ida puts 9 picnic baskets in each of 5 boxes. How many picnic baskets is that altogether?
I am a number composed of identical digits. When you multiply me by 3, the product consists entirely of the digit 3. What number am I?
Leo gets 9 chicks on Monday and 7 chicks on Tuesday, then gives away 2. How many chicks are left?
Omar has 17 acorns and Zoe has 5. How many more acorns does Omar have?