Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₄ and an additional 72 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ²₇ of the remainder and 15 more stickers to Chris
and ³₅ of the rest to David.
Adam has 18 stickers left.
How many stickers does he have at first?
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Bryan = ¹₄ of the total + 72
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ²₇ of the remainder + 15
Number of stickers that Adam gives to David = ³₅ of the rest
Number of stickers left = 18


Working backwards.
1 - ³₅ = ²₅

²₅ of the rest → 18
¹₅ of the rest → 18 ÷ 2 = 9
⁵₅ of the rest → 5 x 9 = 45

1 - ²₇ = ⁵₇

⁵₇ of the remainder = 15 + 45 = 60
¹₇ of the remainder = 60 ÷ 5 = 12
⁷₇ of the remainder = 7 x 12 = 84

1 - ¹₄ = ³₄
³₄ of the total = 84 + 72 = 156
¹₄ of the total = 156 ÷ 3 = 52
⁴₄ of the total = 4 x 52 = 208

Number of stickers at first = 208

Answer(s): 208