The basket of mangoes.
Tom, Dick and Harry stole some mangoes from their neighbors garden.Tom woke up in the middle of the night , ate one and took one-third.
Dick woke up a little later, ate one and took one third.
A few hours later Harry woke up, ate one mango and took one third.
In the morning they counted the mangoes, threw away one rotten mango
and divided the remaining mangoes equally.
How many mangoes had they stolen?
There are many answers to this puzzle. Try to find the minimum no. of mangoes they had stolen.
Click here for Answer
The minimum no. of Mangoes stolen is 79.Tom ate 1 mango(79-1=78) and took one-third(1/3 of 78 = 26). So 52 left.
Dick ate 1 mango(52-1=51) and took one-third(1/3 of 51 = 17). So 34 left.
Harry ate 1 mango(34-1=33) and took one-third(1/3 of 33 = 11). So 22 left.
In the morning they threw 1 rotten mango(22-1=21) and
divided the remaining 21 amongst themselves.(each took 7 mangoes)