Xuan and Winnie had a total of 48 stickers. Winnie gave ¹₄ of her stickers to Xuan. In return, Xuan gave ¹₃ of the total number of stickers that she had to Winnie. In the end, each girl had the same number of stickers. How many stickers did Xuan have at first?

	Xuan	Winnie	Total
Before 1	?	4 u	48
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	36	3 u	48
Before 2	3 p	3 u	48
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	2 p (24)	24	48

Since Winnie gave some stickers to Xuan and Xuan then gave some stickers to Winnie, it is an internal transfer of stickers between the two girls. So, the total number of stickers remains unchanged.

Number of stickers that Winnie and Xuan each had in the end is the same.

Number of stickers that Xuan had in the end
= 48 ÷ 2
= 24

Number of stickers that Xuan had in the end = 2 p

2 p = 24

1 p = 24 ÷ 2 = 12

Number of stickers that Xuan had after receiving some stickers from Winnie
= 3 p
= 3 x 12
= 36

Number of stickers that Winnie had after giving to Xuan
= 48 - 36
= 12

3 u = 12

1 u = 12 ÷ 3 = 4

Number of stickers that Winnie had at first
= 4 u
= 4 x 4
= 16

Number of stickers that Xuan had at first
= 48 - 16
= 32

Answer(s): 32