It may seem unbelievable, but government employees in China during the T'ang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) had to take tests roughly equivalent to our present-day civil service examinations. The standard test for the arithmetic portion of the examination was prepared by the great Chinese Mathematician Hsia-Hou Yang. Here is one of the questions. Could you have passed this part of the government examination ?
" A farmer owned 18 k'o, 7 t'ow, 5 ho of rough and unprocessed rice. [Note: A k'o, approximately equal to one bushel, was the equivalent of 10 t'ow or 100 ho.] The farmer took his rice to the miller to be exchanged for processed and milled rice at the rate of 1 k'o, 6 t'ow of processed rice for each 3 k'o of rough rice. How much processed rice did the farmer receive?"
Solution to the Problem:
The farmer received 1,000 ho or 10 k'o of processed rice.
To simplify the computation, convert all units to ho.
The desired amount of rice = 1,875 / 300 x 160 = 1,000 ho, which is equivalent to 10 k'o.
You can set up a proportion:
1875 / x = 300 / 160
Solving for x, you get x = 1,000 ho.
Correctly solved by:
| 1. Sagar Patel | Columbus, Georgia |
| 2. David and Judy Dixon | Bennettsville, South Carolina |
| 3. Mike Singer | Winchester, Virginia |
| 4. Walt Arrison | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| 5. Math Man | ---------- |
| 6. William Profitt | |
| 7. John Funk | Ventura, California |
| 8. Praveen Nandamuru | Columbus, Georgia |
| 9. Gusti Oggenfuss | Montet, Broye, Switzerland |
| 10. James Alarie | University of Michigan -- Flint Flint, Michigan |
| 11. Gregory Bruno | Waynesboro, VA |
| 12. Tristan Collins | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia |
| 13. Charles Washington | Winchester, Virginia |
| 14. Slayton Gilmore | Columbus, Georgia |
| 15. Elizabeth Carlson | Winchester, Virginia |
| 16. Andrew Montoya | Winchester, Virginia |
| 17. Erin Fennacy | Fresno, California |
| 18. Jaime Garcia Ramirez | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, Virginia |
| 19. Malin Fredriksson | Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden |
| 20. Jessie Biggs | Winchester, Virginia |
| 21. Julianne Harris | Winchester, Virginia |
| 22. Avery Acuff | Columbus, Georgia |
| 23. Rachel Pridgen | Columbus, Georgia |
| 24. Wictoria Widén | Tullängsskolan, Örebro, Sweden |
| 25. Brittaney Jackson | ---------- |
| 26. Jeffrey Gaither | University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 27. Danny Gordon | Columbus Georgia |
| 28. Carter Galbraith | Columbus, Georgia |
| 29. Olivia Quach | Harrisonburg, Virginia |
| 30. Kelley Kolar | Winchester, Virginia |
| 31. Bobby Arthur | Winchester, Virginia |
| 32. Patrick McDuffee | Harrisonburg, Virginia |
| 33. Stephen O'Hara | Winchester, Virginia |
| 34. Jeff McKenzie | Winchester, Virginia |
| 35. Carleton 'Buck' Jones | Midwestern University - Glendale Glendale, Arizona |