On Monday, Neave read ⁴₇ of a textbook. On Tuesday, he read 30 pages of the textbook. On Wednesday, he read ³₇ of the remaining book leaving 36 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 = 7 u

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

4 u = 36

1 u = 36 ÷ 4 = 9

Number of pages that Neave read on Wednesday
= 3 u
= 3 x 9
= 27

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Tuesday
= 7 u
= 7 x 9
= 63

Total number of pages in the textbook = 7 p

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

3 p = 30 + 63
3 p = 93

1 p = 93 ÷ 3 = 31

Total number of pages in the textbook
= 7 p
= 7 x 31
= 217

Answer(s): (a) 27; (b) 217