Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₄ and an additional 97 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ³₇ of the remainder and 15 more stickers to Chris
and ²₅ of the rest to David.
Adam has 3 stickers left.
How many stickers does he have at first?
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Bryan = ¹₄ of the total + 97
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ³₇ of the remainder + 15
Number of stickers that Adam gives to David = ²₅ of the rest
Number of stickers left = 3


Working backwards.
1 - ²₅ = ³₅

³₅ of the rest → 3
¹₅ of the rest → 3 ÷ 3 = 1
⁵₅ of the rest → 5 x 1 = 5

1 - ³₇ = ⁴₇

⁴₇ of the remainder = 15 + 5 = 20
¹₇ of the remainder = 20 ÷ 4 = 5
⁷₇ of the remainder = 7 x 5 = 35

1 - ¹₄ = ³₄
³₄ of the total = 35 + 97 = 132
¹₄ of the total = 132 ÷ 3 = 44
⁴₄ of the total = 4 x 44 = 176

Number of stickers at first = 176

Answer(s): 176