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The owner of a local jewellery store hired 3 watchmen to guard his diamonds, but a thief still got in and stole some diamonds. On the way out, the thief met each watchman, one at a time. To each he gave 1/2 of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. He escaped with one diamond. How many did he steal originally?
  • a)
    36
  • b)
    25
  • c)
    640
  • d)
    None of these
Correct answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
The owner of a local jewellery store hired 3 watchmen to guard his di...
At last thief is left with one diamond.
Hence, the number of diamonds before he gave some diamonds to the third watchman,
x − 42 = 1
or x = 6
Hence, he had 6 diamonds before he gave 5 to the third watchman.
Similarly number of diamonds before giving to second watchman,
or, x = 16
And number of diamonds before giving to the first watchman,
x − 42 = 16
or, x = 36
∴ The thief has stolen 36 diamonds originally
Hence, the correct option is (A).
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Community Answer
The owner of a local jewellery store hired 3 watchmen to guard his di...
Problem:
The owner of a local jewelry store hired 3 watchmen to guard his diamonds, but a thief still managed to steal some diamonds. On the way out, the thief met each watchman, one at a time. To each watchman, he gave half of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. The thief managed to escape with just one diamond. How many diamonds did he steal originally?

Solution:
Let's assume the number of diamonds the thief stole originally is 'x'.

Meeting with the first watchman:
When the thief met the first watchman, he gave him half of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. Therefore, the first watchman received (x/2) + 2 diamonds.

Meeting with the second watchman:
When the thief met the second watchman, he again gave him half of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. Therefore, the second watchman received [(x/2) + 2]/2 + 2 diamonds.

Meeting with the third watchman:
When the thief met the third watchman, he once again gave him half of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. Therefore, the third watchman received [[(x/2) + 2]/2 + 2]/2 + 2 diamonds.

Thief's escape:
The thief managed to escape with just one diamond, so the number of diamonds he had when he met the third watchman was 1.

Equation:
We can set up an equation to solve for 'x', the original number of diamonds stolen:
[[[(x/2) + 2]/2 + 2]/2 + 2] = 1

Solving the equation:
Simplifying the equation step by step:
1. [[(x/2) + 2]/2 + 2]/2 + 2 = 1
2. [(x/2) + 2]/2 + 2 = 1
3. (x/2) + 2 = 1 - 2
4. (x/2) + 2 = -1
5. (x/2) = -1 - 2
6. (x/2) = -3
7. x = -3 * 2
8. x = -6

Conclusion:
The solution 'x = -6' means that the thief stole negative 6 diamonds, which is not possible in this scenario since the thief cannot steal a negative number of diamonds. Therefore, the correct answer is 'None of these' (option D).
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The owner of a local jewellery store hired 3 watchmen to guard his diamonds, but a thief still got in and stole some diamonds. On the way out, the thief met each watchman, one at a time. To each he gave 1/2 of the diamonds he had then and 2 more besides. He escaped with one diamond. How many did he steal originally?a)36b)25c)640d)None of theseCorrect answer is option 'A'. Can you explain this answer?
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