Sabrina and Wendy had a total of 56 beads. Wendy gave ¹₅ of her beads to Sabrina. In return, Sabrina gave ¹₈ of the total number of beads that she had to Wendy. In the end, each girl had the same number of beads. How many beads did Sabrina have at first?

	Sabrina	Wendy	Total
Before 1	?	5 u	56
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	32	4 u	56
Before 2	8 p	4 u	56
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	7 p (28)	28	56

Since Wendy gave some beads to Sabrina and Sabrina then gave some beads to Wendy, it is an internal transfer of beads between the two girls. So, the total number of beads remains unchanged.

Number of beads that Wendy and Sabrina each had in the end is the same.

Number of beads that Sabrina had in the end
= 56 ÷ 2
= 28

Number of beads that Sabrina had in the end = 7 p

7 p = 28

1 p = 28 ÷ 7 = 4

Number of beads that Sabrina had after receiving some beads from Wendy
= 8 p
= 8 x 4
= 32

Number of beads that Wendy had after giving to Sabrina
= 56 - 32
= 24

4 u = 24

1 u = 24 ÷ 4 = 6

Number of beads that Wendy had at first
= 5 u
= 5 x 6
= 30

Number of beads that Sabrina had at first
= 56 - 30
= 26

Answer(s): 26