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My four pet monkeys and I harvested a large pile of peanuts.
Monkey A woke in the night and ate half of them;
then Monkey B woke and ate one third of what remained;
then Monkey C woke and ate one quarter of the rest;
finally Monkey D ate one fifth of the much diminished remaining pile.
What fraction of the original harvest was left in the morning?
This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
Peanut Harvest
Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level 
My four pet monkeys and I harvested a large pile of peanuts.
Monkey A woke in the night and ate half of them;
then Monkey B woke and ate one third of what remained;
then Monkey C woke and ate one quarter of the rest;
finally Monkey D ate one fifth of the much diminished remaining pile.
What fraction of the original harvest was left in the morning?
This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
You can find more short problems, arranged by curriculum topic, in our short problems collection.
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