Half of All Plus One-half

Algebra Level 2

A bread seller is selling some loaves of bread. When he meets the first customer, he orders:

"I want half of all bread plus one-half."

After selling the bread in that amount, here comes another buyer who orders:

"I want half of all bread plus one-half."

Afterwards, there comes the last buyer who orders:

"I want half of all bread plus one-half."

At last, all bread is sold out.

How many loaves of bread are there in the beginning?

1 solution

Marta Reece
May 12, 2017

Reverse the procedure:

Start with nothing, add $\frac 12$ , multiply by 2, to get 1.

Start with 1, add $\frac 12$ to get $1+\frac 12$ , multiply by 2, to get 3.

Start with 3, add $\frac 12$ to get $3+\frac 12$ , multiply by 2, to get $\boxed{7}$ .