Greek Anthology Book XIV: Metrodorus: 136

Arithmetical Epigram of Metrodorus

 * Brick-makers, I am in a great hurry to erect this house.
 * To-day is cloudless, and I do not require many more bricks, but I have all I want but three hundred.


 * Thou alone in one day couldst make as many,
 * but thy son left off working when he had finished two hundred,
 * and thy son-in-law when he had made two hundred and fifty.


 * Working all together, in how many hours can you make these?

Solution
Let $b$ be the number of bricks they can produce together in one day.

Then:

Thus it takes $\dfrac {300} {750} = \dfrac 2 5$ of a day to produce $300$ bricks when all working together.