Orange Logic

Casimiro went for a walk one day and came to an orange grove. The oranges looked tempting, so he asked the owner for one. The owner agreed to give him an orange, but Casimiro would need to follow certain rules. He would have to pick a number of oranges and go through three gates. At each gate Casimiro would need to leave half the number of oranges he was carrying plus half of an orange, all without cutting any of the fruit.

How many oranges did Casimiro pick so that after going through the three gates, he would have the one orange he asked for?

Course:

Math [1]

Result/Solution(s)

Solution: Orange Logic Math Puzzle

Casimiro picked 15 oranges and followed these steps.

At the first gate he left 8 oranges:

15 ÷ 2 = 7½, plus another ½ orange,
making the total left at the gate to be 8

He then carried the remaining 7 oranges to the second gate, where he left 4 behind:

7 ÷ 2 = 3½, plus another ½ orange,
making the total left at the gate to be 4

He took 3 oranges to the third gate. There he left 2:

3 ÷ 2 = 1½, plus another ½ orange,
making the total left at the gate to be 2

Casimiro then went home to eat his remaining orange. All that math had made him hungry!

math [2]
Math Puzzle [3]