Brain Teasers
Greatest Area
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?
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
Great, very clever 
Good one! 
wow! that's realy cleaver!
haha i love it! thats awesome!
Great one. I was a math major in college, so I like that the mathemetician was the most clever in the bunch.
This is actually off a science jokes website. Nonetheless it is still very nice.
I don't get it!
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.
good one
Hehe! That is a good one!
HAHA! That was most funniest teaser I've ever seen!!!!!
This is actually just a *very* old joke...
A little confusing at first but clever once you get it! I thought the line was infinite though... 
I thought the line was infinite though... I love it! Oh, Ilove it!! 
I so got that! It's nice to know I'm smarter than an engineer and a physicist
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
Easy but good.
Really clever!
I don't get it! 
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
If he said he was on the outside, then his fence covered the rest of the world! Clever
The mathmatician was the only one with a "world view"
Funny!!
Vey clever... I liked this one Well done!!
I liked this one Well done!!
Tricky, tricky. Very good teaser.
I hope he put a gate so he could get back in!
Got it, except in my version, the mathematician had the good sense to put himself on the inside when he built his fence.
Sorry but this riddle is very old and time worn
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.
Yawn... 
I hate math - but I got the teaser right away!
Ill give it 8/10 which aint bad at
all
all
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)
dont get it
Love it!
very clever!
I did not get it, but thought it was very clever and it was new to me. THX
but thought it was very clever and it was new to me. THX
I love MATH!!!
this was a cool teaser.
this was a cool teaser.
I was close. I thought he put up a single post and said everything outside it was fenced.
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~
Monday~
Loved it!!!!
I knew it had something to do with a small box. I still got it wrong . Favorited
Very
Very
Nice
. FavoritedVery
Very
Nice
hahaha..that was nice
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.
That's thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX... Great One
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!
However the majority seem to really have liked it so maybe I'm just tired and need to go to bed!
that was funny and obvious I liked it
It's beyond me! I still don't get it!
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
Dude.... They let jokes go through now?? =O I guess Wocka lost all it's members 
Hey, it was a clever one.
But I knew about it from a scientist joke site, where all jokes were about different sciences/professions.
But I knew about it from a scientist joke site, where all jokes were about different sciences/professions.
I loved this teaser! once you get it, you are hitting your head. Or at least I am. Oh well. fabulous job!
Or at least I am. Oh well. fabulous job!
Hahah, very clever.
Well done.
Well done.
Great job...
but I've heard this teaser before.
I still like it.
Kudos, I'm glad you posted it, for what it counts.
(:
but I've heard this teaser before.
I still like it.
Kudos, I'm glad you posted it, for what it counts.
(:
Good one
Very clever, I am applauding. Never heard it before.......... I loved it!
That was hysterical and had me laughing for hours! Well, minutes, I kinda move along after a few minutes... Loved it though!
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?
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?
pretty good!!
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!!
! 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!!
i really enjoyed this one. it was different, which is uncommon.
Clever teaser - going into my faves!!
Very clever!
Very funny. I like it.
all about thinking "outside the FENCE!!"
great teaser
great teaser
This one is my favorite!!! 
Love it! (Didn't get it right, but still love it.) Thanks for submitting! 
Haha! I didn't think of that! Very clever. Great teaser. *Adds to favourites*
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.
I love it!
That's so funny.
Good Job!
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.
Hmmm... I don't get it...
It is brilliant. Easy but the point made is briliant.
And Rastamon: the framer challenged them to fence off the largest area - using no fencing would result in them not fencing off anywhere.
I was thinking that he used no fencing. But, after seeing the answer, I completly understood why I was wrong. This is Brilliant!
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.
how long did it take for the phystic to build his fence?
i was able 2 solve it
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...
i loooooooove this one!
That's a lot of greener grass.
... think about it ....
... think about it ....
Still love this teaser. I totally forgot about it, but the answer came to me just as quick as a wink.
I don't get it either, but then I never was any good at math. Not my thing!
Got it. Before I looked at the answer, I was taking it further and I thought a little triangular fence could probably be devised that's smaller than a little square fence...however I couldn't simply envision a certain triangle (length) that couldn't be transformed into a square...that is given the triangle is of a size someone could stand inside of.
This was a good one! Thanks!! and Happy Halloween!
Really liked this teaser, but I think there is a solution that yields a slightly larger area. Much like the physicist simply declaring his fence to extend infinitely, you could simply lay the fence down on the ground, declare it to extend infinitely in every direction and thereby fence off the ENTIRE earth from the sky above it.
Great one love this
Brilliant!!
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