Shannon had four times the number of metallic blocks as Asher. Shannon used all her blocks to build 8 identical ships. Asher used all his blocks to build 5 identical ships. Shannon used 9 more blocks than Asher for each ship. How many blocks did Asher have?

	Shannon	Asher
Number	8	5
Value	1 u + 9	1 u
Total value	8 u + 72	5 u

Number of metallic blocks that Asher used for each ship = 1 u
Number of metallic blocks that Shannon used for each ship = 1 u + 9

Number of metallic blocks that Asher had
= 5 x 1 u
= 5 u

Number of metallic blocks that Shannon had
= 8 x (1 u + 9)
= 8 u + 72

Shannon had four times the number of metallic blocks as Asher.

4 x 5 u = 8 u + 72
20 u = 8 u + 72
20 u - 8 u = 72
12 u = 72

1 u = 72 ÷ 12 = 6

Number of blocks that Asher had
= 5 u
= 5 x 6
= 30

Answer(s): 30