Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₄ and an additional 72 stickers to Bryan.
He gives away ²₉ of the remainder and 16 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 = ¹₄ of the total + 72
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ²₉ of the remainder + 16
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 - ²₉ = ⁷₉

⁷₉ of the remainder = 16 + 40 = 56
¹₉ of the remainder = 56 ÷ 7 = 8
⁹₉ of the remainder = 9 x 8 = 72

1 - ¹₄ = ³₄
³₄ of the total = 72 + 72 = 144
¹₄ of the total = 144 ÷ 3 = 48
⁴₄ of the total = 4 x 48 = 192

Number of stickers at first = 192

Answer(s): 192