Word problem

posted Fri, 13 May 2005

You have a 1,000 square foot house with wood floors. The bathroom floor is tile. There are only two rugs in the entire house. One rug, which your mom and dad got for you in Ankara, is 2.67 ft x 5.34 ft. It is wool and silk, handmade, with rich blues and reds in a beautiful traditional Turkish pattern.

The other rug measures 2.72 ft x 6.42 ft. It is a Zapotec, wool and cotton, that you got in Oaxaca on your overland trip back from Chile when you spent 332 hours on buses, trains and ferries. It cost about $35 – definitely the less valuable of the two rugs.

Your cat has yet to let you brush him. He only jumped onto your bed – with you in it – for the first time last night and that was just a touch and go.

Calculate the odds of your cat hacking up a hairball on one of the two rugs as opposed to easy-to-clean wood or tile.

For extra credit, figure out which rug.