6 balls.
This is basically an english language problem, there's not much logic in this.
Lets say there are x balls
So,
Number of blue balls = x-4
Number of green balls = x-4
Number of red balls = x-4
Total number of balls = 3x-12
But we took the original number of balls to be x.
Therefore,
3x-12=x
or, x=6
Quocamus
20 January 2013
The problem does not say that there are only blue, green, and red balls. There may be balls of other colors. In that case, there could be 1 blue, 1 green, 1 red, and 2 of other colors (say black and white).
Using einsteinager's math, this would look like:
Let x = total number of balls
Number of blue balls = x-4
Number of green balls = x-4
Number of red balls = x-4
Number of other colored balls = y
x = 3(x - 4) + y
x = 3x - 12 + y
2x = 12 - y
The only restriction on y is that it cannot be greater than x.
Values of y that produce positive integer results for x, with x >= y are:
y = {0, 2, 4}
Thus, there could be 2 other colored balls, and a total of 5 balls.
You could even logically say that there could be 4 balls of other colors, and no blue/green/red balls.
If the problem were to state that the bag only has blue, green, and red balls, then y would be 0, and the answer would be 6.
alwinner
4 October 2013
4 because all but 4 are blue, green and red at the same time. Impossible, so these balls can't exist. This leaves 4 unaffected by this, so only four can exist in the bag.
camper4834
19 November 2013
The first guy got it right... six
2 blue, 2 green, 2 red
that means 2 blue and 4 that are NOT blue (red and green together)
therefore all but 4 are blue
same with other colors
Shavil Maharaj
12 December 2013
there are more than 12 balls or just 12 balls in the bag
lauramay
15 June 2015
6 balls
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Comments (10)
Six
6 balls
5. right?
12
6 balls.
This is basically an english language problem, there's not much logic in this.
Lets say there are x balls
So,
Number of blue balls = x-4
Number of green balls = x-4
Number of red balls = x-4
Total number of balls = 3x-12
But we took the original number of balls to be x.
Therefore,
3x-12=x
or, x=6
The problem does not say that there are only blue, green, and red balls. There may be balls of other colors. In that case, there could be 1 blue, 1 green, 1 red, and 2 of other colors (say black and white).
Using einsteinager's math, this would look like:
Let x = total number of balls
Number of blue balls = x-4
Number of green balls = x-4
Number of red balls = x-4
Number of other colored balls = y
x = 3(x - 4) + y
x = 3x - 12 + y
2x = 12 - y
The only restriction on y is that it cannot be greater than x.
Values of y that produce positive integer results for x, with x >= y are:
y = {0, 2, 4}
Thus, there could be 2 other colored balls, and a total of 5 balls.
You could even logically say that there could be 4 balls of other colors, and no blue/green/red balls.
If the problem were to state that the bag only has blue, green, and red balls, then y would be 0, and the answer would be 6.
4 because all but 4 are blue, green and red at the same time. Impossible, so these balls can't exist. This leaves 4 unaffected by this, so only four can exist in the bag.
The first guy got it right... six
2 blue, 2 green, 2 red
that means 2 blue and 4 that are NOT blue (red and green together)
therefore all but 4 are blue
same with other colors
there are more than 12 balls or just 12 balls in the bag
6 balls
Add a Comment or Suggest an Answer