An egg salesman was asked how many eggs he had sold that day.
He replied, "My first customer said, 'I'll buy half your eggs and half an egg more'. My second and third customers said the same thing.
When I had filled all three orders, I sold out of eggs without having to break a single egg the whole day."

How many eggs were sold in all?

(In reply to Solution by B)

The last purchase of half the eggs plus half an egg resulted in zero left, so half the eggs was 1/2 an egg, so it started out as 1, leaving zero.

The next-to-last purchase left 1, so half the eggs was 1.5, so all the eggs were 3, and two were bought.

The third-to-last (or first) purchase was of half the eggs+1/2, so half the eggs was 3.5, and all the eggs to begin with was 7 and 4 were initially bought.

Posted by Charlie on 2003-11-11 10:25:43