Nick had some erasers. He gave ³₄ of his erasers to Carl 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, Nick had 25 erasers.

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

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

³₅ of his remaining erasers = 25 - 7 = 18
¹₅ of his remaining erasers = 18 ÷ 3 = 6
²₅ of his remaining erasers = 2 x 6 = 12

Number of erasers that Nick gave to his cousin = 12

(b)
⁵₅ of his remaining erasers = 5 x 6 = 30

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

¹₄ of his total erasers = 30 - 4 = 26
⁴₄ of his total erasers = 4 x 26 = 104

Number of erasers that Nick had at first = 104 

Answer(s): (a) 12; (b) 104