Neave had some erasers. He gave ⁵₆ of his erasers to Charlie and bought 4 new erasers. After that, he gave ²₅ of his remaining erasers to his cousin and bought another 7 new erasers. In the end, Neave had 22 erasers.

1. How many erasers did Neave give to his cousin?
2. How many erasers did Neave have at first?

(a)
Fraction of  his remaining erasers after he gave to his cousin
= 1 - ²₅
= ³₅

³₅ of his remaining erasers = 22 - 7 = 15
¹₅ of his remaining erasers = 15 ÷ 3 = 5
²₅ of his remaining erasers = 2 x 5 = 10

Number of erasers that Neave gave to his cousin = 10

(b)
⁵₅ of his remaining erasers = 5 x 5 = 25

Fraction of his total erasers after he gave to Charlie
= 1 - ⁵₆
= ¹₆

¹₆ of his total erasers = 25 - 4 = 21
⁶₆ of his total erasers = 6 x 21 = 126

Number of erasers that Neave had at first = 126 

Answer(s): (a) 10; (b) 126