The math problem we need help with is: lbs of can collected by 4 children were as follows: #1 49 #2 72 #3 108 #4 121. the answer is 10. what is the question. where do i start to figure out what the question is their looking for?

3 answers

well, 49+72+108+121 = 350
and 350/35 = 10.

That has got to be the oddest question I've ever seen :)
Given the answer and have to find the question - odd :)

Hope that helps
umm the question can be anything...but due to GanonTEK's reply i c something...

maybe the question is: What might be the average # of lbs (mean) collected by each child?
Given: They collected 49 + 72 + 108 + 121 = 350 lbs of cans.

So, the KNOWN part of the question is, “These folks collected 350 lbs of cans.”

Answer: 10

I say the answer, 10, is really, “10 cents per pound.”

Therefore, the UNKNOWN part of the question is, “They were paid $ X for the 350 lbs of cans. How many cents per pound were they paid?” (The answer, of course, is already given.)

The task is to figure out what the $X they were paid in total, so you can plug that into the question.

You find that by multiplying the 350 lbs x the $0.10 per pound = $35.00.

So then, the final complete question and answer is this:

Q: The kids collected 49 + 72 + 108 + 121 pounds of cans. They were paid $35 for the cans. How much did they receive per pound?

A: 10 cents per pound