The Knave of Hearts stole some tarts. He ate half of the,, and half a tart more. The Knave of Diamonds ate half of what was left, and half a tart more. Then the Knave of Clubs ate half of what remained, and half a tart more. This left out just one tart for the Knave of Spades. How many tarts did the Knave of Hearts steal?

Answer 1

Let's work backwards to find out how many tarts the Knave of Hearts stole.

Given that there was only one tart left for the Knave of Spades, we can determine that the Knave of Clubs ate half a tart and half a tart more. So before the Knave of Clubs ate, there were (1 + 0.5) * 2 = 3 tarts remaining.

Now, before the Knave of Diamonds ate, there were (3 + 0.5) * 2 = 7 tarts remaining.

Before the Knave of Hearts ate, there were (7 + 0.5) * 2 = 15 tarts remaining.

Therefore, the Knave of Hearts stole a total of 15 tarts.