Tax Collection Custom

A research team went to a village somewhere between the jungles of Africa. Luckily for them, they reached the day when quite an interesting custom was to be performed. The custom was performed once a year as they confirmed and was performed in order to collect the taxes from every male of the region.

The taxes were to be paid in the form of grains. Everyone must pay pounds of grain equaling his respective age. This means a 20-year-old will have to pay 20 pounds of grain and a 30-year-old will pay 30 pounds of grain and so on.

The chief who collects the tax has 7 weights and a large 2-pan scale to weigh. But there is another custom that the chief can weigh only three of the seven weights.

Can you find out the weights of the seven weights? Also, what is the maximum age of the man that can be weighed for the payment of taxes?




Similar Riddles

One day Jenifer meets the Lion and the Tiger in the Forest of Forgetfulness. She knows that the Lion lies on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and tells the truth on the other days of the week. The Tiger, on the other hand, lies on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, but tells the truth on the other days of the week. Now they make the following statements to Jenifer:

Lion: Yesterday was one of my lying days.

Tiger: Yesterday was one of my lying days too.

What day is it?

Asked by Neha on 07 Jan 2021


John gave half of the apples he had plus one more to Jacob. He gave half of the remaining ones plus one more to James. Now, John was left with just one apple.

Can you find out how many did he have in the beginning?

Asked by Neha on 13 Nov 2024

By using 'because' continuously three times, can you make an English statement ?

Asked by Neha on 28 Aug 2021


How can you make the following equation true by drawing only one straight line: 5+5+5=550 ?

Asked by Neha on 24 Apr 2021

Two boys were admitted to a school. When the headmaster asks them about their parents, they tell him that they have same parents (father and mother). On further inquiry, it turns out that they both share the same date for their birthday.

"Are you twins," ask the headmaster.
"No," replies the boys.

Is it possible?

Asked by Neha on 22 Feb 2024

The centre of the third figure is empty. What digit should fit inside?

Missing Digit Riddle

Asked by Neha on 24 Jan 2024


How many people must be gathered together in a room, before you can be certain that there is a greater than 50/50 chance that at least two of them have the same birthday?

Asked by Neha on 16 Dec 2023

You and your two friends are working in a multinational company. How can you three find out the average salary of you all without disclosing your own salary to the other two?

Asked by Neha on 26 Nov 2025

Can you find the ages of a son, father and grandfather based on the following facts?
The sum of the ages of grandfather, father and son is 140 years.
The age of the son in months is the same as the grandfather in years.
The age of the son in days is the same as the father in weeks.

Asked by Neha on 29 Jan 2024


Place a mathematical symbol between the numerals 5 and 9 in such a way that the resulting number is greater than 5 but smaller than 9.

Asked by Neha on 30 Jul 2021

Hot Articles

Amazing Facts

Word ladder puzzle

The word ladder puzzle was invented by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.