Alison and John are standing in the same cattle field at the same time. John can see twice as many cows as bulls. However, Alison can see the same number of bulls and cows in the field. How can this be, and how many bulls and cows are there in the field?
The solution lies in thinking laterally. John and Alison are cattle.
If x = the number of cows and y = the number of bulls:
x – 1 = y
and
2(y – 1) = x
Solving this gives x = 4, y = 3, which means there are 4 cows and 3 bulls on the field.
