Gabby and Jade had a total of 36 stickers. Jade gave ¹₅ of her stickers to Gabby. In return, Gabby gave ¹₄ of the total number of stickers that she had to Jade. In the end, each girl had the same number of stickers. How many stickers did Gabby have at first?

	Gabby	Jade	Total
Before 1	?	5 u	36
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	24	4 u	36
Before 2	4 p	4 u	36
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	3 p (18)	18	36

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

Number of stickers that Jade and Gabby each had in the end is the same.

Number of stickers that Gabby had in the end
= 36 ÷ 2
= 18

Number of stickers that Gabby had in the end = 3 p

3 p = 18

1 p = 18 ÷ 3 = 6

Number of stickers that Gabby had after receiving some stickers from Jade
= 4 p
= 4 x 6
= 24

Number of stickers that Jade had after giving to Gabby
= 36 - 24
= 12

4 u = 12

1 u = 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Number of stickers that Jade had at first
= 5 u
= 5 x 3
= 15

Number of stickers that Gabby had at first
= 36 - 15
= 21

Answer(s): 21