many more horses can the thief steal before the king notices something is wrong – Discussion Forum

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Virat

Asked: July 24, 2025In: Class 5 Maths

Once upon a time, there was a king who was very fond of horses. He had 20 horses of the best breed. The horses were kept in the royal stable, and cared for by a caretaker. One night, a thief stole one of the horses. Fearing punishment, the caretaker arranged the horses in the stable as shown in the picture here. The next day, when the king came to check on the horses, the caretaker led him around the square stable. “Please count the number of horses along each side, your majesty,” he said. The king counted 5 horses along each side. “We have 5 horses along each side and there are 4 sides. So there are a total of 20 horses, your majesty,” the caretaker explained. Satisfied with the explanation, the king returned to his palace. But wait, were there really 20 horses in the stable? Count the horses one by one and check! What was the mistake in the caretaker’s explanation? The following night, the thief stole another horse from the stable. Now, only 18 horses remained. The caretaker once again cleverly arranged the 18 horses, so that there were 5 horses on each side of the square stable. How do you think he was able to do it? Arrange the 18 horses in the stable with 5 on each side. How many more horses can the thief steal before the king notices something is wrong? Try making the arrangements yourself. Here are the two questions to be answered: 1. How did the caretaker arrange 18 horses so that each side had 5 horses? 2. How many more horses can the thief steal before the king finds out?

Once upon a time, there was a king who was very fond of horses. He had 20 horses of the best breed. The horses were kept in the royal stable, and cared for by a caretaker. One night, a thief stole one of the horses. Fearing punishment, the caretaker arranged the horses in the stable as shown in the picture here. The next day, when the king came to check on the horses, the caretaker led him around the square stable. “Please count the number of horses along each side, your majesty,” he said. The king counted 5 horses along each side. “We have 5 horses along each side and there are 4 sides. So there are a total of 20 horses, your majesty,” the caretaker explained. Satisfied with the explanation, the king returned to his palace. But wait, were there really 20 horses in the stable? Count the horses one by one and check! What was the mistake in the caretaker’s explanation? The following night, the thief stole another horse from the stable. Now, only 18 horses remained. The caretaker once again cleverly arranged the 18 horses, so that there were 5 horses on each side of the square stable. How do you think he was able to do it? Arrange the 18 horses in the stable with 5 on each side. How many more horses can the thief steal before the king notices something is wrong? Try making the arrangements yourself. Here are the two questions to be answered: 1. How did the caretaker arrange 18 horses so that each side had 5 horses? 2. How many more horses can the thief steal before the king finds out?

The caretaker cleverly placed 18 horses so that each corner horse was shared by two sides. By putting two horses in each corner and two in the middle of each side, the king saw 5 horses per side. This smart ...