On Monday, Ethan read ⁵₈ of a textbook. On Tuesday, he read 26 pages of the textbook. On Wednesday, he read ³₅ of the remaining book leaving 10 pages unread.

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

(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 = 10

1 u = 10 ÷ 2 = 5

Number of pages that Ethan read on Wednesday
= 3 u
= 3 x 5
= 15

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Tuesday
= 5 u
= 5 x 5
= 25

Total number of pages in the textbook = 8 p

Number of pages unread after reading on Monday 
= 8 p - 5 p
= 3 p

3 p = 26 + 25
3 p = 51

1 p = 51 ÷ 3 = 17

Total number of pages in the textbook
= 8 p
= 8 x 17
= 136

Answer(s): (a) 15; (b) 136