The king of Seedonia was driving along a winding
mountain road with his son. The foolish prince was not
wearing his seat belt, so when the king had to swerve
to avoid hitting an elephant that was strolling across
the road, the passenger side door opened and the prince
was thrown out. He tumbled to the side of the road and
was left hanging by his fingertips over the valley several
thousand meters below.
Fortunately, a young peasant girl happened
by just in time and pulled the prince to safety.
The grateful king invited her home to the palace
for dinner and a game of chess. |
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After the game the king offered the girl a
reward of 1,000,000 Seedos for saving the prince.
(The Seedo is the unit of currency in Seedonia.
It is equal in value to a Euro.) |
 |
|
The girl looked at the chess board and suggested
an alternative reward:
“Put one Seedo on the first square of
the chess board. Tomorrow, remove the Seedo
from the first square and put two Seedos on
the second square. The day after tomorrow, remove
the two Seedos and put four Seedos on the third
square. The next day, put eight Seedos on the
fourth square, and so on each day. On the 64th
day, I will leave with whatever amount is on
last square of the board.”
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The king, who was not a very good math student, thought
this was a very modest request. He agreed to the girl’s
wishes, thinking he would spend quite a bit less than
his original offer.
How much money did the girl end up with? Was it more
or less than 1,000,000 Seedos? Make a guess before you
try to calculate it.
Hint: This problem is very similar to the one we presented
in last month’s puzzle.
After you’ve thought about it check
our solution.
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