On Tuesday, Liam read ³₇ of a fiction book. On Wednesday, he read 40 pages of the fiction book. On Thursday, he read ³₈ of the remaining book leaving 35 pages unread.

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

(a)
Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Wednesday = 8 u

Number of remaining unread pages after reading on Thursday
= 8 u - 3 u
= 5 u

5 u = 35

1 u = 35 ÷ 5 = 7

Number of pages that Liam read on Thursday
= 3 u
= 3 x 7
= 21

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Wednesday
= 8 u
= 8 x 7
= 56

Total number of pages in the fiction book = 7 p

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

4 p = 40 + 56
4 p = 96

1 p = 96 ÷ 4 = 24

Total number of pages in the fiction book
= 7 p
= 7 x 24
= 168

Answer(s): (a) 21; (b) 168