A ship sails with a supply of rations for 60 days at a daily allowance of 2.1 pounds of food per head. After sailing for 20 days, the ship encounters a storm in which five members of the crew are washed overboard .

The damages sustained by the ship add a 24 days delay to the trip; thus, each crew member’s allowance must be reduced to 1.5 pounds of food per head.

Find the original number of members of the crew.

    40 in original crew, 35 after storm

Posted by Dave on 2006-12-21 09:14:30