The Emperor's Chess Board

The story describes an emperor who offers a reward to a chess inventor. The inventor cleverly requests rice in an exponential pattern, doubling the grains for each square on a chessboard. The emperor, unaware of the vast quantity this entails, agrees. The treasurer later discovers that the amount of rice exceeds all of China's supply. This tale illustrates exponential growth, where each term is a power of two, demonstrating the concept of powers in mathematics.

What did the inventor request as a reward from the emperor?

• A grain of rice doubled on each chessboard square

• A title of nobility

• A palace in the empire

• A chest of gold

Why was the emperor surprised by the inventor's request?

• The request involved a complex mathematical problem

• The request seemed too simple and modest

• The request was for a rare artifact

• The request was for a large sum of money

What did the treasurer discover about the amount of rice needed?

• It was a small amount, easily manageable

• It exceeded the total rice in all of China

• It was more than the entire empire's treasury

• It was easily available in the empire

What mathematical concept did the inventor use to outsmart the emperor?

• Geometric sequence

• Linear growth

• Exponential growth

• Arithmetic sequence

By the 64th square, how many grains of rice was the inventor owed?

• Over 9 billion

• Over 9 million

• Over 9 quintillion

• Over 9 trillion