On Monday, Sean read ⁴₇ of a non-fiction book. On Tuesday, he read 24 pages of the non-fiction book. On Wednesday, he read ³₅ of the remaining book leaving 12 pages unread.

1. Find the number of pages read on Wednesday.
2. Find the total number of pages in the non-fiction book.

(a)
Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Tuesday = 5 u

Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Wednesday
= 5 u - 3 u
= 2 u

2 u = 12

1 u = 12 ÷ 2 = 6

Number of pages that Sean read on Wednesday
= 3 u
= 3 x 6
= 18

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Tuesday
= 5 u
= 5 x 6
= 30

Total number of pages in the non-fiction book = 7 p

Number of pages unread after reading on Monday 
= 7 p - 4 p
= 3 p

3 p = 24 + 30
3 p = 54

1 p = 54 ÷ 3 = 18

Total number of pages in the non-fiction book
= 7 p
= 7 x 18
= 126

Answer(s): (a) 18; (b) 126