- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Kimmie, Mao, Yu-na and Emily were marooned on a desert island, along with Kimmie's pet monkey. With only a pile of coconuts to sustain them until they were rescued, naturally tensions rose.
In the middle of the night, Kimmie, suspicious of her friends, got up and snuck down to the beach where the coconuts were. She wanted to make sure that she got her fair share, so she divided the coconuts into four equal piles. There was one coconut left over, which she threw to the monkey.
Then she took her share back to her tent and hid them, leaving three quarters (less one) of the original pile on the beach.
Then Mao woke up and did the same thing. Not knowing that Kimmie had been there before her, she snuck down to the beach and divided the remaining coconuts into four equal piles. There was one left over, which she threw to the monkey. Then she took her share back to her tent.
Yu-na and Emily followed suit. Each divided the remaining pile by four and took away one-fourth, throwing the extra coconut to the monkey.
How many coconuts were there to begin with?
In the middle of the night, Kimmie, suspicious of her friends, got up and snuck down to the beach where the coconuts were. She wanted to make sure that she got her fair share, so she divided the coconuts into four equal piles. There was one coconut left over, which she threw to the monkey.
Then she took her share back to her tent and hid them, leaving three quarters (less one) of the original pile on the beach.
Then Mao woke up and did the same thing. Not knowing that Kimmie had been there before her, she snuck down to the beach and divided the remaining coconuts into four equal piles. There was one left over, which she threw to the monkey. Then she took her share back to her tent.
Yu-na and Emily followed suit. Each divided the remaining pile by four and took away one-fourth, throwing the extra coconut to the monkey.
How many coconuts were there to begin with?