Math puzzles can be both fun and surprisingly tricky.
At first glance, this ice cream cone puzzle looks very simple.
However, many people get the wrong answer because they rush into multiplication.
Let us take a close look at the picture and solve it step by step.
The picture shows three different stacks of waffle cones.
Our goal is to find the total height of a stack of six cones.
First, let us examine the single cone on the left.
The image clearly tells us that one cone has a height of 12 centimeters.
This 12-centimeter measurement represents the full length of a complete cone from top to bottom.
Next, let us look at the middle stack containing three cones.
The total height of these three stacked cones is 20 centimeters.
At this point, you might wonder why three cones do not measure 36 centimeters.
If one cone is 12 centimeters, shouldn’t three cones be three times twelve?
The answer is no, because the cones nest inside each other.
When one cone slides into another, most of its body disappears inside the cone below it.
Only the top rim of each additional cone remains visible above the stack.
This means the total height consists of one full cone at the bottom, plus the exposed rims of the cones added on top.
Now, we can use simple subtraction to find the height of each exposed rim.
The stack of three cones has one full cone and two extra rims.
We already know that the base cone measures 12 centimeters.
If we subtract the 12 centimeters of the base cone from the total height of 20 centimeters, we are left with 8 centimeters.
These 8 centimeters represent the combined height of the two extra rims.
To find the height of a single rim, we divide 8 centimeters by 2.
Eight divided by two equals 4 centimeters.
This tells us that every extra cone added to the stack increases the total height by exactly 4 centimeters.
Now, we have all the information we need to solve the final question.
The third stack consists of six cones.
Just like the previous stack, it starts with one full base cone at the bottom.
On top of this base cone, there are five additional cones stacked together.
Since each additional cone adds 4 centimeters, five extra cones will add five times four centimeters.
Five multiplied by four equals 20 centimeters.
Finally, we simply add the height of the base cone to the extra height.
The base cone is 12 centimeters high, and the five extra rims add another 20 centimeters.
Twelve plus twenty gives us a total of 32 centimeters.
Therefore, the correct height for the stack of six cones is 32 centimeters.