On Monday, Sam read ³₅ of a fiction book. On Tuesday, he read 37 pages of the fiction book. On Wednesday, he read ⁴₇ of the remaining book leaving 51 pages unread.

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

(a)
Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Tuesday = 7 u

Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Wednesday
= 7 u - 4 u
= 3 u

3 u = 51

1 u = 51 ÷ 3 = 17

Number of pages that Sam read on Wednesday
= 4 u
= 4 x 17
= 68

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Tuesday
= 7 u
= 7 x 17
= 119

Total number of pages in the fiction book = 5 p

Number of pages unread after reading on Monday 
= 5 p - 3 p
= 2 p

2 p = 37 + 119
2 p = 156

1 p = 156 ÷ 2 = 78

Total number of pages in the fiction book
= 5 p
= 5 x 78
= 390

Answer(s): (a) 68; (b) 390