It seems that a humble merchant visited three fairs. At the first fair, early in the morning, he doubled his money selling his products, but spent $30 in food and buying other items. (Note to make things
easier to write, we will use the dollar sign for the unit of money.)
At midday at the second fair, he tripled his money and spent $54. At the third fair in the afternoon he
quadrupled his money but spent $72.
Upon his return home to his wife and ten children, late that day, he counted the money he had in his
bag; there was $48.
Did the man return richer or poorer than when he left? And how much did the man gain or lose,
respectively?