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Sam Loyd's Carrying Puzzle - Solution
The Puzzle:
Aesop tells how a father and son failing to ride their donkey in a way to please the public, finally decided to carry the beast.
They had not gone far, however, when they met the village schoolmaster, who explained that as the man was stronger than the boy, and the donkey weighed 220lbs., they should adjust the position of the weight so that the man should carry 125 pounds and the boy but 95.
Where should the weight be hung if the distance from shoulder to shoulder was four feet?
Our Solution:
The length of the pole, four feet, is divided by the point from which the donkey was suspended in the same ratio as the respective weights they sustained taken inversely.
Since, the boy carried 95 pounds, which is (95/220)th of the whole weight, the donkey must be suspended at a point 27 and 3/11ths inches from his shoulder, which is (125/220)th of the length of the pole.
Since, the boy carried 95 pounds, which is (95/220)th of the whole weight, the donkey must be suspended at a point 27 and 3/11ths inches from his shoulder, which is (125/220)th of the length of the pole.
Puzzle Author: Loyd, Sam