Elijah and Ryan had 33 cupcakes altogether. After Elijah ate ¹₅ of his cupcakes and Ryan ate 7 cupcakes, the number of cupcakes Ryan had left was twice the number of cupcakes Elijah had left. How many more cupcakes did Ryan have than Elijah at first?

	Elijah	Ryan	Total
Before	5 u	8 u + 7	33
Change	- 1 u	- 7
After	4 u
Comparing Elijah and Ryan in the end	1x4 = 4 u	2x4 = 8 u

The number of cupcakes that Elijah had in the end is the same. Make the number of cupcakes that Elijah had in the end the same.  LCM of 4 and 1 is 4.

Total number of cupcakes at first
= 5 u + 8 u + 7
= 13 u + 7

13 u + 7 = 33
13 u = 33 - 7
13 u = 26 

1 u = 26 ÷ 13 = 2

Number of cupcakes that Elijah had at first
= 5 u
= 5 x 2
= 10

Number of cupcakes that Ryan had at first
= 33 - 10
= 23

Number of cupcakes that Ryan had more than Elijah at first
= 23 - 10
= 13

Answer(s): 13