mediummath

An apple is 40 cents, a banana is 60 cents and a grapefruit is 80 cents. How much is a pear?

40 cents The price of each fruit is calculated by multiplying the number of vowels by 20c

Why this works

This riddle plays with the idea of counting vowels in the names of the fruits. Each fruit's price is determined by multiplying the number of vowels it contains by 20 cents. For example, "apple" has 2 vowels (a, e), so it costs 40 cents; "banana" has 3 vowels (a, a, a), costing 60 cents; and "grapefruit" has 4 vowels (a, e, u, i), leading to a price of 80 cents. When we look at "pear," it has 2 vowels (e, a), which means it also costs 40 cents!

Common Wrong Answers

“60 cents”

This guess might stem from thinking that the price of the pear is similar to the banana, which has two vowels. However, the riddle is based on the number of vowels, and the pear has two vowels as well, but its price is determined by the established pattern.

“80 cents”

This guess could arise from assuming that the price increases with the number of vowels. The grapefruit has four vowels and is priced at 80 cents, but the pear has only two vowels, which does not follow this incorrect assumption.

“100 cents”

This guess might be influenced by a misunderstanding of the pattern, perhaps thinking that each additional vowel adds a flat amount to the price. However, the price is determined by a specific calculation based on the number of vowels, not a simple addition.

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