A company manufactures an item known as "wabe"

Question

The only shipping containers available require the company to package wabes in quantities that are powers of three. What would be the least number of containers the company could use to fill an order for 1380 wabes?

Answer 1

1380 wabes

powers of 3 are:

3⁰=1, 3¹=3, 3²=9, 3³=27, 3⁴=81, 3⁵=243, 3⁶=729, 3⁷=2187

1 container with 729 wabes   (1380-729=651)

2 containers with 243 wabes  (651-486=165)

2 containers with 81 wabes   (165-162=3)

1 container with 3 wabes

total of 6 containers