Minus' Solution to

The Alien Mugging
Posted July 29 - August 4, 1996

Jim originally had 10A dollars.
A = Jim's age.
The space aliens took (10A - 0.1A) = 9.9A dollars.
9.9A = 396
A = 40, so Jim is 40 years old.
Your Solutions

Bobby Sugar [lsugar@bigwave.ca] submitted this marvellous solution:

Let Jim be x years old, and let P be the paycheck.
Then we know that P=10x
Also, a tenth of his age plus 396 is equal to his paycheque.
Thus, (x/10)+396=10x
Let's multiply both sides by 10 ..... x + 3960 = 100x
100x - x = 3960
     99x = 3960
       x = 40
Therefore, Jim is 40 years old.

Lee Krogh [bkrogh@supernet.ab.ca] gave Minus the right answer and some insight. Have you been watching X-Files, Lee?

Jim is 40 years old. Boy he must have been freaked out after aliens took his money. 




Thanks, Bobby and Lee, for your ace solutions.

Minus says to watch out for bright, flickering lights in the night.