Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₅ and an additional 98 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ²₇ of the remainder and 20 more stickers to Chris
and ³₅ 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 = ¹₅ of the total + 98
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ²₇ of the remainder + 20
Number of stickers that Adam gives to David = ³₅ of the rest
Number of stickers left = 20


Working backwards.
1 - ³₅ = ²₅

²₅ of the rest → 20
¹₅ of the rest → 20 ÷ 2 = 10
⁵₅ of the rest → 5 x 10 = 50

1 - ²₇ = ⁵₇

⁵₇ of the remainder = 20 + 50 = 70
¹₇ of the remainder = 70 ÷ 5 = 14
⁷₇ of the remainder = 7 x 14 = 98

1 - ¹₅ = ⁴₅
⁴₅ of the total = 98 + 98 = 196
¹₅ of the total = 196 ÷ 4 = 49
⁵₅ of the total = 5 x 49 = 245

Number of stickers at first = 245

Answer(s): 245