Question

Once a mule and a donkey were talking. The mule said, "I am' carrying more racks than you. In fact. if you give me one of your racks, then I would have twice as many as you have. If I give you a rack, our loads would be equal." How many racks was the donkey carrying?

• A. $7$
• B. $4$
• C. $8$
• D. $5$

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

$7$

Let the sacks carried by donkey be x and the sacks carried by mule be y. Then
$y+1=2(x-1)$ .......(1)
and $y+1=x+1$ ........(2)
$\therefore y=2x-3$ .......(3)
and $y=x+2$ ...(4)
Equating (3) and (4), we get
$x+2=2x-3$
or $2x-x=3+2$
or $x=5$
$\therefore y=7$
$\therefore$ Sacks carried by donkey $=7$