How many pears did Jim start with?

Question

Jim had a basket of pears. He gave half of them to his friend and then gave six more to his aunt. Then he gave 2/3 of what was left to his mother. Finally, he ate one pear and there were four more pears left in his basket. How many pears did he start with?

Answer 1

Let n be the total of the pears that he has:

he gave n/2 to his friend, after that he has n/2 left 

he gave 6 pears to his aunt, thus he has (n/2)-6 left

after that he gave the two third of what he has to his mom so the total left is one third:

n/6-2

he ate one he still has 4, that means:

n/6-3=4

n/6=7

n=42

 

Then he has 42 pears.

Answer 2

Hi Cicely,

 

Let there be X pears in the basket

 

Jim gave  X/2 pears to his friend, he is left with X/2 pears

 

Jim gave  6 pears to his aunt, now Jim has  X/2 -6 pears

 

Jim gas  (2/3)(X/2 - 6) pears to his mother and he has  (1/3)(X/2 -6) pears 

 

Jim at one pear, now he has (1/3)(X/2 -6) - 1  left which is  4

 

So

 

(1/3)(X/2 - 6) -1 = 4

(1/3)(X/2 - 6) = 5

X/2 -6 =15

X/2 = 21

X = 42

 

Jim started out with 42 pears