Out of a flock of birds, half flow away while 1 got injured. if 244 remain then how many do we began with ?

Question

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Answer 1

La,

The order in which we proceed through this problem is critical - so when did our injured bird sustain the injury?

 

If half the flock flew away and then 1 bird got injured, leaving us with 244 then retrace back through the mathematical steps.

 

Add 1 (injured) bird to the flock of 244 to give 245 birds.

 

Then double the flock size to retrace the half that flew away, to give 490 original birds.

 

 

However, if the bird got injured before half the flock flew away, then:

 

Double the flock of 244 to give 488, and then add 1 (injured) bird to the flock to give 489.

 

I hope this helps!