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Heavy Enough ?

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1. Bodo weighs 160 pounds more than his sister Helen. Their combined weight is 220 pounds. How many pounds does Bodo weigh?
Answer: 190

Solution:

"Bodo weighs 190 pounds" is the correct answer. His sister weighs 30 pounds. Thus, Bodo weighs 160 pounds more than his sister and their combined weight is 220 as per the problem requirements.

The common mistake is to quickly jump to the conclusion that "Bodo weighs 160 pounds and his sister weighs 60 pounds." But, Bodo would then erroneously weigh 100 pounds more than his sister.

Alternative Solution through Equations:

Let b be Bodo's weight and s be his sister's weight. Then,

bs = 160; and
b + s = 220.

On solving the above two equations, we get

b = (160 + 220) / 2 = 190.

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