Solving equation /w more than one variable challenge problem

mathsponge

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Someone gave me a challenge math question at school and I'm curious on how to solve it.

Its a word problem that sounds fairly simple. I think I need to create two eq's and substitute but I can't seem to set it up properly. The number of ice picks hitting the block would be one variable, and the block's decreasing size would be another variable so its at least two variables. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks in advance!

A man has a block of ice and an icepick. Everytime he hits the block of ice, one-half of one percent of the ice block is removed. How many times does he have to hit it before the block is less than one-half it's original size (which would basically be the answer of the eq. minus 1 if it can be solved to exactly 50% of the original block , or rounded up to the next whole if it works out to be a decimal.) It's going to be a huge number since it starts at 0.5% of the block and gets progressively minute.
 
Re: Solving equation /w more than one variable challenge pro

mathsponge said:
Someone gave me a challenge math question at school and I'm curious on how to solve it...
This is not "challenge question" from school. It's the latest Neopets "Lenny Conundrum" contest puzzle. The answer is "139", and people have known this for a couple of days, so you're unlikely to win the big prizes.

Please post any further Neopets questions you might have to a Neopets forum, not a math-tutoring forum. Thank you.

Eliz.
 
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