A man enters a garden with 3 gates.
At each gate, the guard takes half his mangoes — but gives 1 back.
He leaves with 2 mangoes.
How many did he start with?

Q: A man enters a garden with 3 gates. At each gate, the guard takes half his mangoes — but gives 1 back. He leaves with 2 mangoes. How many did he start with?

He started with 2 mangoes.. Try it at any gate: 2 ÷ 2 + 1 = 2. The number never changes. Three guards, three exchanges — and yet, nothing actually moved. That’s the magic.

Question

Accepted Answer

He started with 2 mangoes. — Try it at any gate: 2 ÷ 2 + 1 = 2. The number never changes. Three guards, three exchanges — and yet, nothing actually moved. That’s the magic.