Josh wanted to buy a bike but didn't have enough money. sam slick said, "i can fix that. each time you jump that fence, i'll triple your money. there's one small thing though. each time i pay, you must give me $54 back for the priviledge of jumping." josh agreed, jumped the fence, received his payment from sam slick, and paid sam $54. repeating the routine 1 more time, josh was distressed to find that after sam had made his payment to josh, josh had only $54 with which to pay sam and so had nothing left. sam, of course, went merrily on his way, leaving josh wishing that he had known a little more about mathematics.