Andy gave ¹₈ of his beads to Henry, ²₇ of his remaining beads to Vaidev and ¹₃ of the rest of his beads to Carl. He then had 20 beads left. How many beads had he at first?
Fraction of the rest of the beads that Andy had left after giving to Henry, Vaidev and Carl
= 1 - ¹₃
= ²₃

²₃ of the rest of the beads that Andy had left = 20
¹₃ of the rest of the beads that Andy had left = 20 ÷ 2 = 10
³₃ of the rest of the beads that Andy had left = 3 x 10 = 30

Fraction of his remaining beads that Andy had left after giving to Henry and Vaidev
= 1 - ²₇
= ⁵₇

⁵₇ of his remaining beads that Andy had left = 30
¹₇ of his remaining beads that Andy had left = 30 ÷ 5 = 6
⁷₇ of his remaining beads that Andy had left = 7 x 6 = 42

Fraction of his remaining beads that Andy had left after giving to Henry
= 1 - ¹₈
= ⁷₈

⁷₈ of the beads that Andy had left = 42
¹₈ of the beads that Andy had left = 42 ÷ 7 = 6
⁸₈ of the beads that Andy had left = 8 x 6 = 48

Number of beads that Andy had at first = 48

Answer(s): 48