February 2019
Problem of the Month

Bucket Problem

A bucket plus 20 tennis balls weighs 74 ounces.

The same bucket with 40 tennis balls weighs 116 ounces.

How much does the bucket alone weigh?
How much does each tennis ball weigh?

Solution to the Problem:

The bucket weighs 32 ounces and each tennis ball weighs 2.1 ounces.

Let b = weight of the bucket
Let t = weight of the tennis ball

Then b + 20t = 74 and b = 40t = 116.

Subtracting, we obtain 20t = 42
and t = 2.1

Substituting for t in equation #1:
b + 20(2.1) = 74,
So, b = 32 ounces.

Correctly solved by:

1. Ivy Joseph	Pune, Maharashtra, India
2. James Alarie	Flint, Michigan
3. Bryce Villanueva	University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
4. Kathy Mann	Birmingham, Alabama
5. Madison Johnson	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
6. Terry MacNeil	----------
7. Briggin Bluemel	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
8. SreeRoopa Sankararaman	Singapore, Singapore
9. Katelyn Tims	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
10. Frankie Jenkins	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
11. Brijesh Dave	Mumbai City, Maharashtra, India
12. Kaylee Gross	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
13. Kamri Hutchings	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
13. Hunter Gross	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
14. Mairany Jaracuaro	Delta High School, Delta, Colorado
15. Kaycee Bugas	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
16. Kyler Hurdsman	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
17. Travis Harmon	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
18. Charity Harmon	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
19. Alyssa Marke	Delta High School, Delta, Colorado
20. Carlota Pombar Rodriguez	Mountain View High School, Mountain View, Wyoming
21. Caleb Frazier	Delta High School, Delta, Colorado

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher