While on my way to St. Ives,

I met a man with seven wives.

Each wife had seven sacks;

Each sack had seven cats;

Each cat had seven kits.

Kits, cats, sacks, wives;

How many were going to St. Ives?

By doing simple arithmetic it can be formulated that 7^4 kits were going to St. Ives.  It follows that 7^3 cats were traveling to St. Ives, 7^2 sacks were traveling to St. Ives, and 7^1 (or 7) wives were traveling as well.  Thus, 7+7^2+7^3+7^4=7+49+343+2401=2800 kits, cats, sacks, and wives were traveling to St. Ives.

Posted by logischer Verstand on 2004-05-01 19:37:50