Mr. Wilson and one man got on a streetcar. At the secong stop three people got on. At the third stop, three people got on and one got off. At the fourth stop, three got off. At the fifth stop, six people got off. At the sixth stop, one-half of the passengers got off and Mr. Wilson was the only passenger left on the the streetcar. How many passengers were on the streetcar when Mr. Wilson got on?
To find out how many passengers were on the streetcar when Mr. Wilson got on, let's break down the information step by step:
1. Mr. Wilson and one man got on the streetcar. So initially, there were 2 passengers on the streetcar.
2. At the second stop, three people got on. This means that the number of passengers increased by 3. Therefore, there were 2+3 = 5 passengers.
3. At the third stop, three people got on and one got off. This means that the number of passengers increased by 3-1 = 2. Hence, there were 5+2 = 7 passengers.
4. At the fourth stop, three people got off. This means that the number of passengers decreased by 3. Therefore, there were 7-3 = 4 passengers.
5. At the fifth stop, six people got off. This means that the number of passengers decreased by 6. Thus, there were 4-6 = -2 passengers.
6. At the sixth stop, one-half of the passengers got off, and Mr. Wilson was the only passenger left. Since one-half of the passengers got off, it means that there must have been a total of 2 passengers (Mr. Wilson + 1 more) before this stop. Therefore, Mr. Wilson must have been the only passenger left after everyone else got off.
In conclusion, when Mr. Wilson got on the streetcar, there were 2 passengers on the streetcar.