Eric had some erasers. He gave ³₄ of his erasers to Sean and bought 4 new erasers. After that, he gave ²₅ of his remaining erasers to his brother and bought another 7 new erasers. In the end, Eric had 37 erasers.

1. How many erasers did Eric give to his brother?
2. How many erasers did Eric have at first?

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

³₅ of his remaining erasers = 37 - 7 = 30
¹₅ of his remaining erasers = 30 ÷ 3 = 10
²₅ of his remaining erasers = 2 x 10 = 20

Number of erasers that Eric gave to his brother = 20

(b)
⁵₅ of his remaining erasers = 5 x 10 = 50

Fraction of his total erasers after he gave to Sean
= 1 - ³₄
= ¹₄

¹₄ of his total erasers = 50 - 4 = 46
⁴₄ of his total erasers = 4 x 46 = 184

Number of erasers that Eric had at first = 184 

Answer(s): (a) 20; (b) 184