Books are fascinating, not just for their content but for how they are physically constructed. Often, when we think about pages, we overlook the simple fact that they’re printed on both sides of a sheet of paper. So, when a page is torn out of a book, more than just one side is affected. In this brain teaser, you’re tasked with figuring out how many pages were actually removed from a book when specific numbered pages were torn out. The answer may surprise you!

To solve this puzzle, it’s essential to understand how pages are printed in a book. Typically, two pages are printed on opposite sides of a single sheet of paper. For example, pages 7 and 8 would be on the same sheet, one on the front and the other on the back. Therefore, tearing out one sheet effectively removes two pages from the book.

In this case, the pages torn out include 7, 8, 100, 101, 222, and 223. Each of these sets (7 and 8, 100 and 101, 222 and 223) represents one sheet of paper because two pages are printed on one sheet. This basic understanding is the key to solving the riddle.

Let’s walk through each set of torn pages:

• Pages 7 and 8: These two pages are printed on opposite sides of the same sheet. Tearing them out means only one sheet of paper has been removed from the book.
• Pages 100 and 101: Similarly, these two pages are printed on the front and back of the same sheet. Removing them equals one more sheet of paper.
• Pages 222 and 223: Again, these pages are printed on a single sheet. Tearing them out removes just one more sheet.

So, while it might seem at first glance that six pages were removed, only three sheets of paper were actually torn out.

Now, let’s summarize the total number of pages removed:

• One sheet containing pages 7 and 8 (2 pages)
• One sheet containing pages 100 and 101 (2 pages)
• One sheet containing pages 222 and 223 (2 pages)

In total, six pages were removed, but they came from three sheets of paper. This is an essential distinction because, while it may feel like six separate events, it’s really about understanding how the pages are arranged in the physical book.

This puzzle can be confusing because most people tend to think of each page number as a separate piece of paper. But books don’t work that way! When you tear out a sheet of paper from a book, you’re removing two pages at once. It’s this little-known fact about book construction that can trip people up.

In conclusion, this puzzle serves as a reminder that things are not always as they seem. While six individual pages were removed, they only represented three sheets of paper. This is a clever way to challenge assumptions and to remind us that understanding the structure behind a problem is often the key to finding the solution.

By looking at this puzzle through a logical lens, we were able to simplify what at first seemed complex. Next time you’re faced with a tricky riddle, remember: sometimes, the solution is as simple as understanding how the pieces fit together.