Elijah had some marbles. He gave ²₃ of his marbles to Zane and bought 4 new marbles. After that, he gave ⁴₉ of his remaining marbles to his cousin and bought another 7 new marbles. In the end, Elijah had 27 marbles.

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

(a)
Fraction of  his remaining marbles after he gave to his cousin
= 1 - ⁴₉
= ⁵₉

⁵₉ of his remaining marbles = 27 - 7 = 20
¹₉ of his remaining marbles = 20 ÷ 5 = 4
⁴₉ of his remaining marbles = 4 x 4 = 16

Number of marbles that Elijah gave to his cousin = 16

(b)
⁹₉ of his remaining marbles = 9 x 4 = 36

Fraction of his total marbles after he gave to Zane
= 1 - ²₃
= ¹₃

¹₃ of his total marbles = 36 - 4 = 32
³₃ of his total marbles = 3 x 32 = 96

Number of marbles that Elijah had at first = 96 

Answer(s): (a) 16; (b) 96