Two farmer’s wives set to the market to sell some oranges.
Each had 30 oranges for sale. The first sold hers at 2 a rupee and the other at
3 a rupee. When all the oranges were sold the former had made in all Rs. 15 and
the latter Rs. 10, a total of Rs. 25.
The next day when they set out for the market, they decided
to do business together. So they pooled their sixty oranges and sold them at
the rate of 5 for Rs 2 (Two a rupee plus three a rupee).
But when the oranges were all sold out and they counted
their takings, to their dismay, they found that they had only Rs 24 in all.
They could not understand where the other one rupee went.
They ended up accusing each other of having appropriated the
rupee.
Where did the one rupee go?
Answer: The farmer’s wives made the error of
calculating their average price rate by arranging their individual rate of 2
oranges a rupee and 3 ranges a rupee over the same number of apples.
To insure the same takings as those of the first day, they
should have determined their price by dividing the total number of oranges by
the total number of rupees – that is,
60/ 25 or 12/ 5 oranges a rupee.
They actually sold, the oranges at the rate of 2 ½ oranges a
rupee. That’s where the missing rupee went.
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