If the farmer, his wife, his son, his daughter, a neighbour and the family dog all pull the turnip equally, what fraction of the total pulling force does the dog contribute?

hard 4 marks Class 3 · English · The Enormous Turnip

Answer

\frac{1}{6}

The correct answer is $\frac{1}{6}$ — Thus the dog's share = $\frac{1}{6}$ of the total pulling force.

Step-by-step solution

List all contributors: farmer, wife, son, daughter, neighbour, dog – total of 6 people/dog.
Since all pull equally, each contributes 1 out of the 6 equal shares.
Thus the dog's share = $\frac{1}{6}$ of the total pulling force.

Common mistake: Using the total number of people only and forgetting the dog

Concept tested: Fraction of equal contributions