Can someone explain this riddle for me?

Question

A man gave his young son the following challenge. He offered his

son $1000 if the son could accomplish the following task. The

father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in

one dollar bills.

He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a

manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can

give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount

I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you

can do this, you will keep the $1000."

When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to

give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked

for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten

envelopes? The answer follows, but think about it for a few

moments before you scroll down to see the answer...

$1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 489.

I don't really understand the answer, could someone help explain it? Thanks :)

Answer 1

each number is doubled after the next. so no matter what he asked for u could give it to him

Answer 2

I think when you add the numbers up they equal 1000...right? lol...I didnt understand it to much but I tried I think in all of the 10 envelopes he placed a $1 in the first 2 in the second, and so on.

Answer 3

Its obvious their both robots

Answer 4

the amount was even...and the numbers keep multipying by two

Answer 5

pick a # and you can make the exact # with one or more envolopes