How Many Eggs Do You Really Have Left? The Puzzle Most People Get Wrong

The Egg Puzzle: Can You Solve It?

There’s a seemingly simple riddle making the rounds that stumps 99% of people who try to solve it. Let’s break it down together and see if you can figure it out.

Here’s the setup:

• You start with 6 eggs.
• You break 2 eggs.
• You fry 2 eggs. (These could be the same eggs you broke or different ones.)
• You eat 2 eggs. (Again, these could be the same eggs you fried or different ones.)

Sounds straightforward, right? But here’s where most people trip up.

Breaking It Down

1. You broke 2 eggs.
   This leaves you with 4 unbroken eggs.
2. You fried 2 eggs.
   If you fried the same eggs you broke, you still have 4 eggs left, but now 2 of them are cooked. If you fried two different eggs, you still have 4 eggs, but now you’ve got 2 cooked and 2 uncooked eggs.
3. You ate 2 eggs.
   If the eggs you ate were the same ones you fried, and those were also the ones you broke, then you’re left with 2 eggs—these are the ones you didn’t fry or eat. If the eggs you ate were different from the ones you fried, you still have 4 eggs—2 cooked and 2 raw.

The Final Count

So, how many eggs do you have left?

• If the eggs you fried and ate were the same, you end up with 2 eggs.
• If the eggs you fried and the eggs you ate were different, you still have 4 eggs left.

The puzzle’s answer hinges on whether the eggs you fried were the ones you ate. It’s a fun little riddle that plays with the assumptions we make, and it’s easy to see why 99% of people get it wrong.

Are you among the 1% who got it right? Let us know in the comments!