Top Math Riddles with Answers
A basket contains 5 apples. Do you know how to divide them among 5 kids so that each one has an apple and one apple stays in the basket?ANSWER
In a certain country ½ of 5 = 3. If the same proportion holds, what is the value of 1/3 of 10 ?ANSWER
Mr. Smith has 4 daughters. Each of his daughters has a brother.
How many children does Mr. Smith have?ANSWER
There is a chain nailed to the wall. The chain is 10 feet long and the centre of the chain dips down 5 feet from where each side of the chain is nailed to the wall. How far are the 2 ends of chain from each other?ANSWER
There are two planes. One is going from New York to London at a speed of 600 MPH. The other is travelling from London to New York at a speed of 500 MPH.
When the planes meet which one will be closer to London?ANSWER
If you toss a coin 10 times and it lands heads up every time, what are the chances it will land heads up if you toss it again?ANSWER
A girl was ten on her last birthday, and will be twelve on her next birthday. How is this possible?ANSWER
A ladder hangs over the side of a ship anchored in port. The bottom rung of the ladder touches the water. The distance between rungs is 30cm, and the length of the ladder is 270cm.
If the tide is rising at a rate of 15cm per hour, how long will it be before the water reaches the top rung?ANSWER
A child playing on the beach had 6-1/6 sand piles in one place and 3-1/3 in another.
If he put them together, how many sand piles would he have?ANSWER
In a lake, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half the lake?ANSWER
If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?ANSWER
A bat and a ball cost $1.10. The bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?ANSWER
An athlete is able to jump FOREVER. However, every time that she jumps she gets a bit more tired, and every jump goes 1/2 as far as her prior jump. Now, for her very first jump, she goes 1/2 of a foot.
On her second jump, she goes 1/4 of a foot, and so on and so forth. ANSWER
A person picks up cigarette butts from the ground and can make a cigarette with 4 butts. If he finds 16 cigarette butts, how many cigarettes can he make?ANSWER
Three people check into a room. The bill is $30. They split it 3 ways. Later on the hotel realizes they should have charged $25 so they send a bellhop to return $5. The bellhop realizes he can't split $5 3 ways to he gives each person $1 and keeps $2.
They have now paid $9 each for the room, the bellhop has $2.
$27 + $2 = $29
What happened to the last $1 considering $30 was originally paid.ANSWER
If two hours ago, it was as long after one o'clock in the afternoon as it was before one o'clock in the morning, what time would it be now?ANSWER
Five hundred begins it, five hundred ends it,
Five in the middle is seen;
First of all figures, the first of all letters,
Take up their stations between.
Join all together, and then you will bring
Before you the name of an eminent king.ANSWER
With the numbers 123456789, make them add up to 100. They must stay in the same order. You can use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Remember, they have to stay in the same order.ANSWER
The ages of a father and son add up to 66. The father's age is the son's age reversed. How old could they be? (3 possible solutions).ANSWER
Jack is a farmer and owns some chickens. One day, he took a basket of fresh eggs to the market to sell.
The first person bought half of all the eggs in the basket and half an egg.
Then, the second person bought half of the remaining eggs and half an egg.
Later, the third person bought half of the remaining eggs and half an egg.
Now Jack's basket has only 1 egg left.
If no eggs were broken in the process, how many eggs did he originally have in his basket?ANSWER