My first instinct was algebra. The only other thing I can think of is trial and error. But there's gotta be something else that I'm just not thinking of right now.

Sorry! That's the best I can come up with at the moment.

42 - 10 = 32

32 / 2 = 16 (which is the cost of the shorts)

16 + 10 = 26 (cost of the shirt)

Looks like Mir is the smarty-pants today! :)

omg, I feel like such an idiot right now...

well with one just starting in the third grade, I really should know this!

goes to stand in the corner with Erin

You lost me at the word math!

He should start shopping at "Value Village"!

My neiughbor just has a problem like this last week. Here's the simple solution.

Take the total # and / by 2 (for each item)
42/2 = 21

Take the difference and / by 2
10/2 = 5

Add 5 to 21 to come up with one figure
subract 5 from 21 to come up with the other

Answer 16 and 26

Oh the math equations I get to look forward to as my daughter starts 3rd grade this week. To add to my difficulties, the math questions are in french. Oy!

The best way to think of it is that the cost of the two items is equal, except for the $10. So, like Mir said, you subtract the $10 first and then just divide the remainder in half. That gives you the price of the shorts, and you add the $10 back in to get the price of the shirt.

I always relate better to math when it's stated in words.

Donuts. The answer is always Donuts.

Well, you know that the difference between the two items is $10. If we take away that $10(from the total price) then each article should be the same price. So all you need to do is half the remaining amount.

Teacher's Edition! Where's my Teacher's Edition?!

You have some very impressive readers, don't you! Virtual, free math tutoring.

Yup, what Genuine said. Math? *runs away screaming, much the same as when a customer asks me after the transaction has closed to figure out what they meant to be a split-order*

3rd grade!!! Man I need to go take a general math class and brush up again before Opie gets that far.

Taz was in 5th grade last year and his mom came over with 7 pages of math problems and it took 5 of us to figure all of the out. What we didn't know we looked up on the Internet for an explanation. Can you believe that. And I'm an Analyst!!!

If I had to figure that stuff out without Excel or my accounting software I would probably hurt my brain.

Hand her 42$ and make her buy the clothes from ow on.

Is it just me or is this an example of how we adults make things waaaaaay too complicated sometimes?

Oh my God! I had to resort to algebra! I couldn't let the problem go unsolved! Oy!

Sorry, I was never required to take a foreign language class.

To funny! This very thing happened to me just the other day. My 5th grader had a similar math problem and I had to break out the old phone book and start calling family and friends until I was able to get a scholar to help us figure out our math problem.

it's so sad that i would have had a hard time figuring that out. i'm a math idiot. but, like, who ever needs to figure a problem like that out in real life? t hat's what receipts are for!

i knew the pythagorean theorm for years, but just now when i tried to think of it, i couldn't remember.

pout.

OMG, I feel stupid too, MIR, you made it sound so easy. I just hope I remember this for next years math class.

were they both travelling at the same speed?

Ugh. I dread homework. Thankfully I have a few more years before I head down that path. ;-)

It is a good thing I am doing a PhD in Sociology - not Math, because I totally didn't get it at first. Oh my, how embarassing.

Who?