A thief steals a number of rare plants from a nursery. On the way out, the thief meets three security guards, one after another. To each security guard, the thief is forced to give one-half of the plants that he still had, plus 2 more. Finally, the thief leaves the nursery with 10 plants. How many plants were originally stolen?
Question
What is arithmetic?
Let the number of plants originally stolen by the thief be x.
On the way out, the thief meets three security guards, one after another. To each security guard, the thief is forced to give one–half of the plants that he still had, plus 2 more.
For gourd 1 the planet is given = 1/2 x
For gourd 2 the planet is given = 1/2 * 1/2 x = 1/4 x
For gourd 3 the planet is given = 1/2*1/4 x = 1/8 x
Total plant given to the gourds = 1/2x +1/4x +1/8x + 2 = 7/x/8x +2
Finally, the thief leaves the nursery with 10 plants
x – 7x/8 + 2 = 10
x/8 = 8
x = 64
#SPJ1