Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₃ and an additional 10 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ³₈ of the remainder and 15 more stickers to Chris
and ³₅ of the rest to David.
Adam has 16 stickers left.
How many stickers does he have at first?
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Bryan = ¹₃ of the total + 10
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ³₈ of the remainder + 15
Number of stickers that Adam gives to David = ³₅ of the rest
Number of stickers left = 16


Working backwards.
1 - ³₅ = ²₅

²₅ of the rest → 16
¹₅ of the rest → 16 ÷ 2 = 8
⁵₅ of the rest → 5 x 8 = 40

1 - ³₈ = ⁵₈

⁵₈ of the remainder = 15 + 40 = 55
¹₈ of the remainder = 55 ÷ 5 = 11
⁸₈ of the remainder = 8 x 11 = 88

1 - ¹₃ = ²₃
²₃ of the total = 88 + 10 = 98
¹₃ of the total = 98 ÷ 2 = 49
³₃ of the total = 3 x 49 = 147

Number of stickers at first = 147

Answer(s): 147