Two coins add up to 30 cents. One of them is not nickel. What are the coins?
The correct answer and explanation is:
The two coins are a quarter (25 cents) and a nickel (5 cents). The riddle states that “one of them is not a nickel.” This phrasing can be a bit tricky because it doesn’t necessarily mean that neither of the coins is a nickel. It simply means that one of the coins is not a nickel, which could mean the other coin is a nickel.
Here’s how to break it down:
- The total value of the coins is 30 cents.
- If you consider a quarter (worth 25 cents) and a nickel (worth 5 cents), their total value is indeed 30 cents.
- The riddle says that “one of them is not a nickel,” and in this case, it refers to the quarter. The quarter is not a nickel, so this statement is satisfied.
- The other coin is the nickel, which fits the requirement of being a nickel.
The phrasing of the riddle leads to the conclusion that a quarter and a nickel are the two coins in question. The trick here lies in interpreting “one of them is not a nickel” as referring to the quarter, not ruling out the possibility of the other coin being a nickel.