To get production, you need to know how many eggs are laid per hen per day. The bypass is replacing the confusing "something and a half" with the less confusing fraction, 3 / 2. Production can be expressed as 3 / 2 eggs / ( 3 / 2 hens * 3 / 2 days ). Clearing the common term and taking the reciprocal gives the production dimension: 2 / 3 eggs per hen per day. If you multiply that by 3 days you get the answer (C): 2 eggs.

The problem sounds harder than it is because we are disposed to think of hens and eggs as atomic entities. Statistically, neither is atomic. If a hen lays an egg on Monday and two on Tuesday, her average production for the 2 day period is 3 / 2 eggs per day -- an egg and a half per day, so the bypass takes us back to where we started with a direct answer to a question that only appeared difficult.