We are brave sailors always riding the sea
We are less than one hundred but as tough as can be
We sleep in three bunkers on top of each other
Our numbers double from one bunker to another
We dance in joy all through the night
In groups of fives under the moonlight
Last night twelve of us were swallowed by waves
Leaving alive more than two third of the braves
Still we continue the journey refusing to fail
So tell me how many of us are left to sail?
Answer
58 sailors are left.
- From line 2: Total number of sailors is <100.
- From lines 3 & 4: Let number of sailors sleeping in bunker 1 be X, then number of sailors sleeping in bunker 2 is 2X and in bunker 3 is 4X,
i.e. Total number of sailors = X+2X+4X = 7X and thus it is a multiple of 7. - From line 6: dancing in groups of fives means the total number is a product of 5.
- From lines 7 & 8: 12 of the sailors were drowned in the sea, leaving more than two-thirds of the sailors alive, so the total number is > 36 (3 * 12).
Summing up all the above given information, the total number of sailors is <100 and >36; it divides by 7 and 5, which adds up to the total number of 70 sailors.
Since 12 of the 70 sailors died in the sea, there are 58 sailors left to continue the journey.
