Greek Anthology Book XIV: 7. - Problem/Mistake

Source Work

 * The Puzzles:
 * Light Reflected off a Mirror: $19$
 * Solution
 * Solution

Mistake

 * My right eye fills $1/8$ jar in $6$ hours (taking a day to be $24$ hours, where the Greeks might have taken it to be $12$), and my left eye fills $1/12$ in $6$ hours, and my foot $1/16$. Thus all four fill the jar $1 + 1/8 + 1/12 + 1/16 = \frac {13} {48}$ times in $6$ hours. So the jar will be filled once in $6 \times 48/61$ hours, or $47$ minutes and $13$ seconds, approximately.
 * (Sandford, $1930$, p. $216$)

Correction
While the arithmetic has been correctly worked out to be $6 \times 48/61$ hours, this does not work out to be $47$ minutes and $13$ seconds.

In fact it is $4 \frac {44} {61}$ hours, or $4$ hours, $43$ minutes and $17$ seconds, approximately.

Also, the author is, not Sandford.