Question

A thief was stealing diamonds from a jewellery store. On his way out, he encountered three guards, each was given half of the existing diamonds and two over it by the thief. In the end, he was left with one diamond. How many diamonds did the thief steal?

Answer 1

Answer:

At last thief is left with one diamond.

Hence, the number of diamonds before he gave some diamonds to the third watchman,

⇒x−(x2+2)=1or, x−42=1or, x=6

Hence, he had 6 diamonds before he gave 5 to the third watchman.

Similarly number of diamonds before giving to second watchman,

x−42=6or,x=16

And number of diamonds before giving to the first watchman,

x−42=16or, x=36

∴ The thief has stolen 36 diamonds originally