A hungry bookworm literally ate his way through a set of
encyclopedias -- right from page one of Volume I to the last
page of Volume VIII. The books were each 1" thick, not
including their covers, which were each 1/7" thick. They sat
side by side on the bookshelf in order from left to right.
How many inches of books did the bookworm go through?
Solution:
The answer is 8 inches (not 10 inches or 10 2/7 inches).
Page 1 of volume I is on the right side of the book and the last page of Volume VIII is on the left side of the book. So, the bookworm only travels through fourteen covers and six books.
Geoff Keith noted that
1. If the books are right side up it's 8 inches, since page 1 is on the
right side and he won't eat either vol 1 or vol 8 books..
2. If the books are upside down, then it's 10 inches.
Correctly solved by:
| 1. Christopher March | Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia |
| 2. Richard Johnson | La Jolla, California |
| 3. David & Judy Dixon | Bennettsville, South Carolina |
| 4. Keith Mealy | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| 5. Taverlee Lum | Winchester, Virginia |
| 6. Daniel Foster | Winchester, Virginia |
| 7. Rich Murray | Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada |
| 8. Walt Arrison | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 9. ---------- | United Kingdom |
| 10. James Alarie | University of Michigan -- Flint, Michigan |
| 11. Kelsey Dufendach | Rockford, Michigan |
| 12. Vanessa Kargenian | Rockford, Michigan |
| 13. Dee Gulis | Rockford, Michigan |
| 14. Geoff Keith | Santa Monica, California |
| 15. David Stark | Winchester, Virginia |
| 16. Marshal Diehl | Winchester, Virginia |
| 17. John Beasley | Winchester, Virginia |