17 students share some stickers.
Each girl gets 4 stickers.
Each boy gets 5 stickers.
In total, the girls get 23 more stickers than the boys.

1. How many boys are there?
2. How many girls are there?
3. How many stickers do the boys get?
4. How many stickers do the children get?

Number of girls	Total stickers that the girls get	Number of boys	Total stickers that the boys get	More stickers for the girls than the boys
17	17 x 4 =  68	0	0 x 5 = 0	68 - 0 = 68
16	16 x 4 = 64	1	1 x 5 = 5	64 - 5 = 59
12	12 x 4 = 48	5	5 x 5 = 25	48 - 25 = 23

(a)
Number of more stickers for the girls than the boys if all the students are girls,
= 17 x 4
= 68

Number of more stickers for the girls than the boys if one girl is replaced by a boy 
= 16 x 4 - 1 x 5
= 64 - 5
= 59

Big difference in the decrease in the number of stickers when a girl is replaced by a boy
= 68 - 23
= 45

Small difference in the decrease in the number of stickers when a girl is replaced by a boy
= 4 + 5
= 9

Number of boys
= 45 ÷ 9
= 5

(b)
Number of girls
= 17 - 5
= 12

(c)
Number of stickers that the boys get
= 5 x 5
= 25

(d)
Number of stickers that the girls get
= 12 x 4
= 48

Total number of stickers
= 25 + 48
= 73

Answer(s): (a) 5; (b) 12; (c) 25; (d) 73