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A band of 11 pirates once stole a number of gold coins.
When the pirates tried to divide the coins equally among themselves, 1 coin was left over. The greedy pirates fought over the remaining coin, and one pirate was thrown overboard. The remaining pirates again tried to share the coins equally, but again 1 coin was left over. Again they fought, and again one pirate was thrown overboard. When they tried for a third time to to divide the coins, no coins were left over and each pirate got an equal share. What is the smallest number of coins the pirates could have stolen? |
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Follow-up ChallengesOnce upon a time there was an old squirrel who had collected a number of acorns. She was considering giving the acorns to members of her squirrel family and thought:
"Perhaps I should let my two sons have the acorns – no, there would be one acorn left over. Perhaps I should divide the acorns among all five of my children – no, there would be two acorns left over. Perhaps I should divide the acorns among my 17 children and grandchildren – no, there would be 3 acorns left over. I had better just keep all the acorns for myself!" How many acorns might the old squirrel own? Could there be more than one answer? Is there any pattern among the possible answers? |
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