Ilina ate 51 plus three of the candies from the bag. From the remaining candies she ate 51 plus five the next day. The third day she ate the remaining 15 candies. How many candies were there in the bag in the beginning?
Solution
Let x be the number of candies in the bag in the beginning. Then Ilina ate 51x+3 during the first day and there were 54x−3 candies left. During the second day Ilina ate 51(54x−3)+5 and the third day she ate the remaining 15 candies. Hence 51x+3+51(54x−3)+5+15=x. Expanding: 51x+3+254x−53+5+15=x Combine like terms: (51x+254x)+(3−53+5+15)=x 255x+254x=259x 3−53+5+15=(3+5+15)−53=23−53 So: 259x+23−53=x Move all terms to one side: 259x+23−53−x=0 259x−x=−2516x So: −2516x+23−53=0 −2516x=53−23 −2516x=53−115=−5112 Multiply both sides by −1: 2516x=5112 Multiply both sides by 25: 16x=25×5112=5×112=560 16x=560 x=35 So, there were 35 candies in the bag in the beginning.
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