DAY 242

IT'S IN THE BAG

You have a bag of oranges. On Monday you eat 1/3 of them. On Tuesday you eat 1/2 of the remaining oranges. On Wednesday there are 2 oranges left in the bag. How many were in the bag to start?

Answer:

6.............On Tuesday, 2/3 of the oranges remain. So you eat 2/6 of them (1/2 0f 2/3)........or 1/3. 2/3 of the oranges are now gone. Since you have 2 left, 2 must be 1/3 of the original number in the bag. 2 = 1/3X, X =6.

Another solution: If you ate half the remaining oranges on Tuesday leaving 2 oranges on Wednesday, there must have been four oranges left on Tuesday. On Monday, the number of oranges less 1/3 of them should equal 4......X - 1/3X = 4.