Comments on: Episode 54: Math Anxiety – Causes and Cures

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:37:31 +0000

Regarding the selling of the horse, I would look at each instance of buying and selling instead of adding them up to get zero.
In the first instance, he bought a horse for $20 and sold it for $30, a profit of $10.
He then bought it (it doesn’t matter if it is the same horse or not) for $40 and sold it for $50, a profit of $10. In total, he made a profit of $20.
In a spread sheet, he would have a total of $60 going out, and a total of $80 coming in, for a profit of $20.
If you look at his net worth (say $100 to start with) it would go down to $80, up to $110, down to $70, and then up to $120. Again, a profit of $20.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:20:21 +0000

Andy: I’ll send your solution to Dr. Geist to see if you’re right! Michael

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:44:31 +0000

I think I know the answer to the question above about the horse. looking at the problems the man buy a horse for 20, then sell it to for 30 and buys it back for 40 and sells it again for 50. the person lost 20 for buying the horse, but he again 10 for selling it. Then he lost the 10 for buying it back and another ten for selling the horse.
So: -20 + 10 = -10,
-10 – 40 = -50
-50 + 50 = 0
The person break even>