April 2025
Problem of the Month

How Many Dimes?

Nancy and a group of her friends took a bus trip.

Each person paid the bus driver with the same combination of 9 coins.

If the bus driver received $8.41 from the group, how many dimes did he receive?

Solution to the Problem:

Here is the solution:

Since 841 = 29² and since 29 is a prime number, that means Nancy and her 28 friends could only have paid $8.41 in equal amounts by spending 29 cents each.

The only combination of 9 coins that yields 29 cents is 4 pennies and 5 nickels.
Therefore, the bus driver did not receive any dimes.

Correctly solved by:

1. Kamal Lohia	Holy Angel School, Hisar, Haryana, India
2. Colin (Yowie) Bowey	Beechworth, Victoria, Australia
3. Davit Banana	Istanbul, Turkey
4. Lillie White	Central High School, Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
5. Kelly Stubblefield	Mobile, Alabama, USA

Send any comments or questions to: David Pleacher