Andy had some marbles. He gave ⁵₆ of his marbles to Seth and bought 4 new marbles. After that, he gave ²₅ of his remaining marbles to his cousin and bought another 7 new marbles. In the end, Andy had 28 marbles.

1. How many marbles did Andy give to his cousin?
2. How many marbles did Andy have at first?

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

³₅ of his remaining marbles = 28 - 7 = 21
¹₅ of his remaining marbles = 21 ÷ 3 = 7
²₅ of his remaining marbles = 2 x 7 = 14

Number of marbles that Andy gave to his cousin = 14

(b)
⁵₅ of his remaining marbles = 5 x 7 = 35

Fraction of his total marbles after he gave to Seth
= 1 - ⁵₆
= ¹₆

¹₆ of his total marbles = 35 - 4 = 31
⁶₆ of his total marbles = 6 x 31 = 186

Number of marbles that Andy had at first = 186 

Answer(s): (a) 14; (b) 186