Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₄ and an additional 16 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ³₅ of the remainder and 15 more stickers to Chris
and ³₇ of the rest to David.
Adam has 20 stickers left.
How many stickers does he have at first?
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Bryan = ¹₄ of the total + 16
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ³₅ of the remainder + 15
Number of stickers that Adam gives to David = ³₇ of the rest
Number of stickers left = 20


Working backwards.
1 - ³₇ = ⁴₇

⁴₇ of the rest → 20
¹₇ of the rest → 20 ÷ 4 = 5
⁷₇ of the rest → 7 x 5 = 35

1 - ³₅ = ²₅

²₅ of the remainder = 15 + 35 = 50
¹₅ of the remainder = 50 ÷ 2 = 25
⁵₅ of the remainder = 5 x 25 = 125

1 - ¹₄ = ³₄
³₄ of the total = 125 + 16 = 141
¹₄ of the total = 141 ÷ 3 = 47
⁴₄ of the total = 4 x 47 = 188

Number of stickers at first = 188

Answer(s): 188