A lily pad doubles in size every day. If it takes 30 days to cover the entire pond, how many days did it take to cover exactly half the pond?
29 days
Since the lily pad doubles daily, on the day before it covers the whole pond (day 30), it must have covered half the pond (day 29).
About this riddle
Math riddles hide a calculation inside a short story. Pull out the numbers, work out what is being asked, and watch for a trick such as a unit change.
Difficulty: Easy. More like this: Math riddles with answers or try Target 24 for a different kind of puzzle.
More math riddles
How many times during a single 12-hour cycle do the minute hand and hour hand of an analog clock overlap precisely?
If you multiply me by myself, subtract 9, and then divide by 5, the result is 8. What number am I?
Eli puts 5 apples in each of 3 boxes. How many apples is that altogether?
A farmer counts 30 animal heads and 86 animal legs across a pasture filled entirely with ducks and cows. How many cows are in the pasture?
A farmer has chickens and pigs in a field. Together, they have 15 heads and 40 feet. How many pigs are in the field?
What positive integer yields the exact same result whether you multiply all its digits together or add all its digits together?

