An old classic

Algebra Level 2

As I was going to St. Ives / I met a man with seven wives.

Every wife had seven sacks / every sack had seven cats / every cat had seven kits.

Kits, cats, sacks and wives / How many were going to St. Ives?

Assumptions :

1) The man, his wives, etc., are also going to St. Ives.

2) ONLY count the wives, sacks, cats and kits. Do not include the speaker or the polygamous husband.


The answer is 2800.

Denton Young by Denton Young , 47, USA

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2 solutions

Denton Young
Jun 23, 2016

Wives: 7

Sacks: 7 * 7 = 49

Cats: 49 * 7 = 343

Kits: 343 * 7 = 2401

Total: 7 + 49 + 343 + 2401 = 2800

2 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused
Hung Woei Neoh
Jun 23, 2016

There are 7 7 wives, 7 2 7^2 sacks, 7 3 7^3 cats and 7 4 7^4 kits

The total of all these

= 7 + 7 2 + 7 3 + 7 4 = 7 ( 1 + 7 + 7 2 + 7 3 ) = 7 ( 8 + 7 2 ( 1 + 7 ) ) = 7 ( 8 + 49 ( 8 ) ) = 7 ( 8 ) ( 50 ) = 7 ( 400 ) = 2800 =7+7^2+7^3+7^4\\ =7(1+7+7^2+7^3)\\ =7\left(8+7^2(1+7)\right)\\ =7\left(8+49(8)\right)\\ =7(8)(50)\\ =7(400)\\ =\boxed{2800}

0 Helpful 0 Interesting 0 Brilliant 0 Confused

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