A new cow math puzzle is causing quite a stir on Twitter, baffling many people, including myself. We`ve seen plenty of monkey-themed brain teasers and puzzles about women in boats, but this latest one has a certain cottagecore vibe, as it involves buying a cow. Twitter is debating the answer, but no consensus has yet been reached.
The solution to the puzzle is understanding how much profit you can make from each trade.
- Bought the cow for $800 and sold it for $1000, making a profit of $200.
- Bought the cow again for $1100. Since you already made a profit of $200 from the first transaction, your effective cost for the second purchase is $1100 – $200 = $900.
- Sold the cow for $1300, making a profit of $400 ($1300 – $900).
Spoiler alert: if you don’t want the answer spoiled, cover your eyes and run away now!
The correct answer is $400. Here’s the breakdown:
- Purchase cow for $800.
- Sell cow for $1000.
- Net profit: +$200.
- Re-purchase cow for $1100.
- Net profit becomes -$900.
- Sell cow again for $1300.
- Total profit = $400.
