On Wednesday, Fabian read ²₅ of a fiction book. On Thursday, he read 12 pages of the fiction book. On Friday, he read ⁵₈ of the remaining book leaving 27 pages unread.

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

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

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

3 u = 27

1 u = 27 ÷ 3 = 9

Number of pages that Fabian read on Friday
= 5 u
= 5 x 9
= 45

(b) 
Working backwards.

Number of pages unread after reading on Thursday
= 8 u
= 8 x 9
= 72

Total number of pages in the fiction book = 5 p

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

3 p = 12 + 72
3 p = 84

1 p = 84 ÷ 3 = 28

Total number of pages in the fiction book
= 5 p
= 5 x 28
= 140

Answer(s): (a) 45; (b) 140