A shepherd looks across a field and counts a total of 48 legs and 16 heads among his sheep and ducks. How many sheep are there?
8
Each animal has 1 head, so there are 16 animals in total. If all 16 were ducks (2 legs each), there would be 32 legs. The extra 16 legs belong to the sheep; since each sheep has 2 more legs than a duck, 16 / 2 = 8 sheep.
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: Medium. More like this: Math riddles with answers or try Target 24 for a different kind of puzzle.
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