Minus' Solution to

Santa's Busy Helpers
Posted December 9 - 15, 1996

Culotte makes (0.75)(5,000) = 3,750 toys.

Etalot makes (1.2)(3,750) = 4,500 toys.

And Santa's extra busy elf, Brot, makes 2(3,750) = 7,500 toys.

As luck would have it, Culotte is the elf responsible for making the Tickle-Me Elmo dolls this year.
Your Solutions

Minus' old friend, John Moser, is back with a perfect solution and a little bit of insight:

Culotte makes 75% of 5000 = 3750 toys
Etalot makes 120% of 3750 = 4500 toys
Brot makes 200% of 3750 = 7500 toys
Dot makes 5000 toys

All together they make 5000 + 3750 + 4500 + 7500 = 20,750 toys.
That's an average of 5187.5 toys per elf.
To make 20 000 000 toys Santa would only need about 40 000 elves.
The North Pole will soon be easy to find. 




Jeff Ross from Virginia Episcopal School submitted this very precise solution:



Cullote made 75% of Dots production which was 5000, so 75% of 5000 =
3750.

Brot made twice as many as Cullote, so 2 times 3750 is 7500.


Etalot made 120% as many as Cullote, so 1.2 times 3750 is 4500.


Dot makes 5000.

Brot    - 7500 toys

Culotte - 3750 toys

Etalot  - 4500 toys

Dot     - 5000 toys


Their sum total is 20,750.







Mauricio Grazziotin Mondadori [mgm@br.homeshopping.com.br] (Wow! Try saying that fast six times!) shows us his mathematical wizardry in this solution:



Dot:           5,000

Culotte:        3,750   (.75 X Dott = .75 X 5,000 = 3,750

Etalot:         4,500   (1.2 X Culotte = 1.2 X 3,750 = 4,500)

Brot:            7,500   (2 X Culotte = 2 X 3,750 = 7,500)







Mandy Pui, of Vancouver, British Columbia, impressed Minus with her unique method of multiplying by 120%:



It says Dot makes 5000 toys a year and that Culotte makes 75% of Dot's 
so you divide 5000 into 4 and times it by 3. The answer is 3750 (how many 
Culotte makes).

It says Brot makes 2 times as much as Culotte so you times it by 2 from Culotte's answer and that will gives you 7500 (How many Brot 
makes).

Then it says that Etalot makes 120% of Culotte. First, if it says 
100% it'll be 3750, but it says 120% so you divide 3750 by 10 and times 
it by 2 and add that to 3750 and it'll be 4500 (how many Etalot makes). 
Ta-Da!







Jeff Perron [jperron@pli.mb.ca] rounded off our lot of feeders with this delightful piece for Minus' dessert:



Brot makes 7500 toys per year. Culotte makes 3750 toys per year. Etalot
makes 4500 toys per year. Dot makes 5000 toys per year.



Dot makes 5000 toys/year
Culotte- 75% of Dot =3750 toys/year
Brot- 2 times as much as Culotte=7500 toys/year
Etalot- 120% of Culotte=4500 toys/year











Ahhh...That's the sound a shark

makes after a good holiday meal.

Thanks goes to all of our gracious feeders.