A donkey (D) and a mule (M) were carrying sacks of apples. The donkey groaned so the mule said to him, "Why are you complaining? If you gave me one sack, I would have twice as many as you; if I gave you one of my sacks, then we would have equal loads."

Start with the second

M-1=D+1 or M=D+2
the first statement says:
(D-1)2=M+1 Or M=2D-3

so D+2=2D-3
or D=5 and M=7

Thank you!

Donkey actually has 7 and mule has 5

wrong the mule has seven & donkey has 5!!!

So mule is 7 and donkey is 5

Bob is right

I’m confused which is right

The answer is mule seven and donkey 5.

If the donkey gave a sack to the mule it would have 4 and mule 8= 2x more than donkey, however, if the donkey was given a sack they would both have six making them have equal amount of sacks.

To solve this riddle, we need to set up a system of equations based on the information given and use algebra to find the solution.

Let's assume that the donkey is carrying x sacks of apples, and the mule is carrying y sacks of apples.

Given that "if the donkey gave the mule one sack, the mule would have twice as many as the donkey," we can construct the equation: y + 1 = 2(x - 1) (*)

Similarly, given that "if the mule gave the donkey one sack, they would have an equal number of sacks," we can construct the equation: x + 1 = y - 1 (**)

To solve this system of equations, we will use the method of substitution.

First, let's solve equation (*):
- Expand the equation: y + 1 = 2x - 2
- Simplify: y = 2x - 2 - 1
- Simplify further: y = 2x - 3

Now, substitute this value of y in equation (**):
x + 1 = (2x - 3) - 1
x + 1 = 2x - 3 - 1
x + 1 = 2x - 4

Next, isolate x by moving x terms to one side:
x - 2x = -4 - 1
-x = -5
x = 5

Now substitute this value of x back into equation (*):
y + 1 = 2(5 - 1)
y + 1 = 2(4)
y + 1 = 8
y = 7

Therefore, the donkey is carrying 5 sacks of apples, and the mule is carrying 7 sacks of apples.