On the bank of river there are four deities. Deepa went there with x flowers. Before offering the flowers she dips them in the river & they get doubled. Now she offers y flowers to the first deity and dips the remaining flowers in the river so that they get doubled again. She offers y flowers to the second deity as well & repeats the same process for 3rd & 4th deity. After offering flowers to the 4th deity, she realises that she is left with no flowers at all. What is the minimum number of flowers she could have started with ?

Options

A. 7
B. 8
C. 16
D. 15

Answer

D

Explanation

According to the question
Deepa starts with x number of flowers and offered y flowers at each deity.
Let x = 15 and y = 16
[`because` After last offering, she is left with no flowers]
[By hit and trial method]
`therefore` Initially number of flowers = 15.

So, it is clear that the number of flowers offered (at each deity)= power of 2 i.e. `2^4 = 16 `
[`because` Each time the flowers are getting doubled] So, the minimum number of flowers she can offered = 16.
Therefore, the minimum number of flowers that she can start with = 15.