On Monday, Ryan read ³₈ of a non-fiction book. On Tuesday, he read 17 pages of the non-fiction book. On Wednesday, he read ⁴₇ of the remaining book leaving 27 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 = 7 u

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

3 u = 27

1 u = 27 ÷ 3 = 9

Number of pages that Ryan read on Wednesday
= 4 u
= 4 x 9
= 36

(b) 
Working backwards.

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

Total number of pages in the non-fiction book = 8 p

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

5 p = 17 + 63
5 p = 80

1 p = 80 ÷ 5 = 16

Total number of pages in the non-fiction book
= 8 p
= 8 x 16
= 128

Answer(s): (a) 36; (b) 128