Mr. Gan has some notebooks. If he ties them in bundles of 5, he will have 3 extra notebooks. If he ties them in bundles of 9, he would be short of 2 notebooks. What is the smallest possible number of notebooks Mr. Gan has?
Multiples of 5: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40
Multiples of 5 (+3): 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38, 43
Multiples of 9: 9, 18, 27, 36, 45
Multiples of 9 (-2): 7, 16, 25, 34, 43
Smallest possible number of notebooks that Mr. Gan has = 43
Answer(s): 43
