Pied Piper

How many rats did the Pied Piper catch?
Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem

On Monday the Pied Piper caught 1000 rats in a city.

On Tuesday he caught 10% fewer rats than on Monday.

On Wednesday he caught 20% more than on Tuesday.

On Thursday he caught 30% fewer than on Wednesday.

On Friday he rested.

How many rats did he catch in total that week?

 

If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.