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The Case of the Missing MangosSubmitted by Tina from Baltimore, 12/8/2000. Original answer and this article by Allen Stenger.A king was hungry one night and went downstairs to get some food ... He saw mangos in a dish and took 1/6 of them ... Then his wife went downstairs and got 1/5 of the remaining mangos ... Then his son came down and took 1/4 of the remaining mangos ... Then his oldest son went down and took 1/3 of the remaining mangos ... Last his youngest son came down and took 1/2 of the mangos left ... There are 3 mangos left ... How many mangos were in the dish at the beginning? Hint 1Work backward from the number of mangos left at the end. Hint 2The youngest son took 1/2 of the mangos he saw, leaving 1/2 of the ones he saw, or 3 mangos. Therefore the number he saw was 3 / (1/2) = 6 mangos. Keep working backward. Click here for the complete solution. |
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