Adam has some stickers
He gives away ¹₄ and an additional 85 stickers away to Bryan.
He gives away 5 less than ¹₅ of the remaining 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 + 85
Number of stickers that Adam gives to Chris = ¹₅ of the remainder - 5
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 - ¹₅ = ⁴₅

⁴₅ of the remainder = 45 - 5 = 40
¹₅ of the remainder = 40 ÷ 4 = 10
⁵₅ of the remainder = 5 x 10 = 50

1 - ¹₄ = ³₄
³₄ of the total = 50 + 85 = 135
¹₄ of the total = 135 ÷ 3 = 45
⁴₄ of the total = 4 x 45 = 180

Number of stickers at first = 180

Answer(s): 180