🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Nov12.222818.7106@nntp.uoregon.edu> Tom Scavo,
scavo@cie.uoregon.edu writes:
>A chicken lays eggs.  On the first day, she lays a single egg.
>On the following days, she lays twice as many eggs as she did
>the day before plus one.  How many eggs does the chicken lay
>on the sixth day?
>
>>I showed this problem to an eleventh grade student-quite bright- and he
>>was able to come up with the answer the next day.
>
>But how did he arrive at the solution?  There are probably many
>different ways to solve this problem---all useful.
>
>-- 
>Tom Scavo
>scavo@cie.uoregon.edu

I think the student started the problem at end and worked backwards. That
is,
x represents the # of eggs he has left after the fifth sale. So-  
x - 1/2 x - 1/2 =  0.  x = 1
x- 1/2 x  - 1/2 =1.    x = 3    and so on. 

Eventually getting the 63 eggs the farmer started with.
The first time I saw the problem Ilet x be the number of eggs the farmer
started with.
I agree with Tom Scavo who suggests there are other interesting methods
of solution. I see one more.
Bernie Ivens
The Geometry Forum
School Liason
Swarthmore College, PA
ivens@forum.swarthmore.edu