Brain Teasers
Shipwrecked
There was a shipwreck at sea and Mad Ade, Smelly O'Riley and Elvis impersonator Tavish McPresley were washed ashore on a small island. Reaching the shore, exhausted, they all fell asleep.
Mad Ade woke first (whilst having a glorious dream about living in a land where Kebabs were served every meal, and twice for breakfast), and saw that a box of bananas had been washed ashore. Being greedy as he is, he ate one third of the bananas and went back to sleep to continue his Kebab related dreams.
Next, Smelly O'Riley woke up, and seeing the box of bananas, ate one third of what was left and went back to sleep.
Tavish McPresley woke up next and assumed that the other two hadn't eaten any bananas, so he ate one third of what remained.
When Tavish McPresley had finished, there were eight bananas left over. How many bananas were in the box originally?
Mad Ade woke first (whilst having a glorious dream about living in a land where Kebabs were served every meal, and twice for breakfast), and saw that a box of bananas had been washed ashore. Being greedy as he is, he ate one third of the bananas and went back to sleep to continue his Kebab related dreams.
Next, Smelly O'Riley woke up, and seeing the box of bananas, ate one third of what was left and went back to sleep.
Tavish McPresley woke up next and assumed that the other two hadn't eaten any bananas, so he ate one third of what remained.
When Tavish McPresley had finished, there were eight bananas left over. How many bananas were in the box originally?
Answer
27Solution:
When Tavish finished, the remaining 8 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when he started (so each 1/3 = 4). Therefore there were 12 bananas (4 + 4 + 4)when he started, and when Smelly O'Riley finished.
Following the same logic, the remaining 12 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when Smelly O'Riley started (and each 1/3 = 6). Therefore there were 18 bananas (6 + 6 + 6) when he started, and when Mad Ade finished.
Again, following the same logic, the remaining 18 bananas represented 2/3 of the amount that had existed when Mad Ade started (and each 1/3 = 9). So, there must have been 27 (9 + 9 + 9) bananas originally.
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Comments
you do too much story. Why not just ask:
(((X/3)/3)/3)=8. What is X?
(((X/3)/3)/3)=8. What is X?
i meant: 8 is 2/3 of 2/3 of 2/3 of what?
But Mogmatt, where would the fun be in that?? Part of the point of puzzles like this is to work out just what the puzzle is. Simply stating the math problem takes halh of the puzzle away.
I agree Dazza... Mog, half the teasers on this site could probably just be reduced to an algebraic expression. Often the very nature of a teaser is to be able to extract the hidden mathematical calculations from within the wording. Anyone for a kebab?
I thought it a good teaser, the story part was just as good, ya got to have a story to go with the teaser, thats what makes it unique and fun
Good puzzle, kinda tricky. but once it hits you, you know you got it.
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