Braingle: 'Greatest Area' Brain Teaser

Greatest Area

Trick brain teasers appear difficult at first, but they have a trick that makes them really easy.

Puzzle ID:	#38504
Fun:	(3.31)
Difficulty:	(1.92)
Category:	Trick
Submitted By:	koma
Corrected By:	Crazycriely

A farmer challenges an engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician to fence off the largest amount of area using the least amount of fence.

The engineer made his fence in a circle and said it was the most efficient.

The physicist made a long line and said that the length was infinite. Then he said that fencing half of the Earth was the best.

The mathematician laughed at the others and with his design, beat the others. What did he do?

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Comments

LeafFan4life Sep 28, 2007	Great, very clever
jsdodgers Sep 28, 2007	Good one!
tennisfreak4eva Sep 28, 2007	wow! that's realy cleaver!
princesspt Sep 28, 2007	haha i love it! thats awesome!
kwelchans Sep 28, 2007	Great one. I was a math major in college, so I like that the mathemetician was the most clever in the bunch.
goreylorey Sep 28, 2007	This is actually off a science jokes website. Nonetheless it is still very nice.
1smart_okie Sep 28, 2007	I don't get it!
calmsavior Sep 28, 2007	If the mathematician is on the outside, then all land on the other side of the fence (which is the entire world) is on the inside.
ChefPoobie Sep 29, 2007	good one
tintiniscool Oct 07, 2007	Hehe! That is a good one!
IQ_master Oct 08, 2007	HAHA! That was most funniest teaser I've ever seen!!!!!
peanut Oct 08, 2007	This is actually just a very old joke...
4demo Oct 08, 2007	A little confusing at first but clever once you get it! I thought the line was infinite though...
lynnica Oct 14, 2007	I love it! Oh, Ilove it!!
luckylefty Oct 15, 2007	I so got that! It's nice to know I'm smarter than an engineer and a physicist
BPKANERVA Oct 16, 2007	I love that one, i like math and so i am glad that the mathmetician was the smartest one, and i especially liked when he laughed at the others
lukeschett Oct 19, 2007	Easy but good.
winbob423 Oct 22, 2007	Really clever!
jzthebomb Oct 27, 2007	I don't get it!
emu77alu02 Oct 29, 2007	That was great, but it took me a second to get it! If he said he was on the outside, then his fence covered the rest of the world! Clever
jamie-grannie Oct 29, 2007	The mathmatician was the only one with a "world view"
katjojo Oct 29, 2007	Funny!!
Tryer Oct 29, 2007	Vey clever... I liked this one Well done!!
bradon182001 Oct 29, 2007	Tricky, tricky. Very good teaser.
builder Oct 29, 2007	I hope he put a gate so he could get back in!
craniac Oct 29, 2007	Got it, except in my version, the mathematician had the good sense to put himself on the inside when he built his fence.
doehead Oct 29, 2007	Sorry but this riddle is very old and time worn
auntiesis Oct 29, 2007	This riddle may be an old one, but I never heard it. As a math freak, I'm happy to say I got the answer even before I finished reading the teaser.
hradilv Oct 29, 2007	Yawn...
hancar Oct 29, 2007	I hate math - but I got the teaser right away!
al111 Oct 29, 2007	Ill give it 8/10 which aint bad at all
avonma Oct 29, 2007	I thought that was a hard one, but only because I didn't get it. I liked it, though, because it was so clever! (By the way, it was new to me)
lastlyboo Oct 29, 2007	dont get it
tonjawithaj Oct 29, 2007	Love it!
jaydeco Oct 29, 2007	very clever!
Trishgal Oct 29, 2007	I did not get it, but thought it was very clever and it was new to me. THX
dudebomb93 Oct 29, 2007	I love MATH!!! this was a cool teaser.
dstarbird Oct 29, 2007	I was close. I thought he put up a single post and said everything outside it was fenced.
mondayschild59 Oct 29, 2007	If the line was infinite it still only seperated the world in half. I like this teaser. It was very hard and I didn't get it right, but I still like it. Monday~
Rerepete Oct 29, 2007	Loved it!!!!
cheesepie Oct 29, 2007	I knew it had something to do with a small box. I still got it wrong . Favorited Very Very Nice
betaiv Oct 29, 2007	hahaha..that was nice
2ndhandrose Oct 29, 2007	Having the farmer asking the question threw me off. They were fencing the earth, maybe if God asked the question I might have gotten on the right track. Didn't get it.
drussel3 Oct 29, 2007	That's thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX... Great One
breathesunshine Oct 29, 2007	I wanted to like it but found myself feeling like it was a "groaner" instead of clever. However the majority seem to really have liked it so maybe I'm just tired and need to go to bed!
rhnnp Oct 29, 2007	that was funny and obvious I liked it
phyllisa Oct 30, 2007	It's beyond me! I still don't get it!
dogg6pound9 Nov 01, 2007	this is the best teaser i've experienced so far... didn't get the answer rite, but its so obvious (and completely true) once you see the answer... excellent job on this one
SevenBubbles Nov 01, 2007	Dude.... They let jokes go through now?? =O I guess Wocka lost all it's members
willymapo Nov 11, 2007	Hey, it was a clever one. But I knew about it from a scientist joke site, where all jokes were about different sciences/professions.
rt1819 Nov 14, 2007	I loved this teaser! once you get it, you are hitting your head. Or at least I am. Oh well. fabulous job!
Tongue-Twister Nov 16, 2007	Hahah, very clever. Well done.
likeproperty Nov 26, 2007	Great job... but I've heard this teaser before. I still like it. Kudos, I'm glad you posted it, for what it counts. (:
AndrewWalker Dec 12, 2007	Good one
bookwrmKP Dec 14, 2007	Very clever, I am applauding. Never heard it before.......... I loved it!
friesaregood Dec 25, 2007	That was hysterical and had me laughing for hours! Well, minutes, I kinda move along after a few minutes... Loved it though!
Chakoteya Feb 06, 2008	That is straight out of Douglas Adams' books. Wonko the Sane turned his house inside out, called it the Asylum and declared that the world was in the asylum and he was the only person living outside it in the real world! There's nothing really new, is there?
aball911 Mar 01, 2008	pretty good!!
Queen_Nesh7 Mar 27, 2008	I liked this ! since he was on the outside of the fence then the inside of the fence covered the rest of the world and it took up the least amount of fence but covered the most land!!
trickster2005 Apr 25, 2008	i really enjoyed this one. it was different, which is uncommon.
lauren044-- May 04, 2008	Clever teaser - going into my faves!!
marie7771 Jul 22, 2008	Very clever!
markmonnin Sep 08, 2008	Very funny. I like it.
sammyfish Sep 15, 2008	all about thinking "outside the FENCE!!" great teaser
Keiko Oct 11, 2008	This one is my favorite!!!
Elios Dec 04, 2008	Love it! (Didn't get it right, but still love it.) Thanks for submitting!
Psychic_Master Dec 11, 2008	Haha! I didn't think of that! Very clever. Great teaser. Adds to favourites
Paladin Mar 16, 2009	Although I got this one, I had never heard it before. Most of the riddles on this site are either "old ones" or are ones slightly modified from our memory, so it should not be pointed out how "old" some of these are... they are still around because they are classic and many of us have still never heard them.
ObamaGirl May 03, 2009	I love it!
mizchey Jul 14, 2009	That's so funny.
mathisnice Aug 09, 2009	Good Job!
(user deleted) Aug 15, 2009	Although the mathmatician did fence off the greatest amount of surface area between the three, there is a more efficient option. Which would be to use NO fencing. This would yield the greatest amount of surface area whilst using the least amount of fence. O Whored. Think about it deg. maybe next time chief.
coltonr1 Sep 13, 2009	Hmmm... I don't get it...
Lord_Hawk Sep 28, 2009	It is brilliant. Easy but the point made is briliant.
Lord_Hawk Sep 28, 2009	And Rastamon: the framer challenged them to fence off the largest area - using no fencing would result in them not fencing off anywhere.
woodrock96 Feb 03, 2010	I was thinking that he used no fencing. But, after seeing the answer, I completly understood why I was wrong. This is Brilliant!
davidrools Oct 29, 2010	I think the physicist and mathematician are switched. Mathematicians always have infinite lines and physicists are always talking about different frames of reference. still, same joke. fun. ok.
Benjiboo Nov 19, 2011	how long did it take for the phystic to build his fence?
royale-ninja Jul 19, 2012	i was able 2 solve it
annie9698 Aug 15, 2012	I had never heard this, but still found it very easy. Really, the only logical thing to do. However, I am not sure why it was the mathematician who came up with the idea. I guess it could just as easily have been a blonde, brunette, redhead...