Question

Three watchmen are protecting the fruits in a garden. A thief managed to sneak in and steal some guavas. On the way out, he was confronted by the three watchmen. The first two watchmen asked him to part with a 3rd of the fruits and one more each. The last asked him to part with a fifth of the mangoes and 4 more.The thief had no guavas left. How many guavas did he steal originally?

Answer 1

The number of guavas he steal originally is 15.

Step-by-step explanation:

We are given that a thief managed to sneak in and steal some guavas. On the way out, he was confronted by the three watchmen.

The first two watchmen asked him to part with one 3rd of the fruits and one more each. The last asked him to part with a fifth of the mangoes and 4 more. The thief had no guavas left.

Let us suppose that he originally steal 15 guavas from the garden. Now we will keep on subtracting the guavas which were given to watchmen and will reach to 0 guavas at the end.

So, the guavas stolen by thief = 15  {assuming}

First watchmen take one 3rd of the fruits and one more, that means;

=  $15 \times (\frac{1}{3} )+1$

=  5 + 1 = 6 guavas

So, now the guavas left with the thief = 15 - 6 = 9

Second watchmen take one 3rd of the fruits and one more, that means;

=  $9 \times (\frac{1}{3} )+1$

=  3 + 1 = 4 guavas

So, now the guavas left with the thief = 9 - 4 = 5

Third watchmen take one-fifth of the mangoes and 4 more, that means;

=  $5 \times (\frac{1}{5} )+4$

=  1 + 4 = 5 guavas

So, now the guavas left with the thief = 5 - 5 = 0

Since we have reached to the 0 guavas, which means that originally 15 guavas were stolen by the thief.