Gillian and Wendy had a total of 126 stickers. Wendy gave ¹₃ of her stickers to Gillian. In return, Gillian gave ¹₈ of the total number of stickers that she had to Wendy. In the end, each girl had the same number of stickers. How many stickers did Gillian have at first?

	Gillian	Wendy	Total
Before 1	?	3 u	126
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	72	2 u	126
Before 2	8 p	2 u	126
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	7 p (63)	63	126

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

Number of stickers that Wendy and Gillian each had in the end is the same.

Number of stickers that Gillian had in the end
= 126 ÷ 2
= 63

Number of stickers that Gillian had in the end = 7 p

7 p = 63

1 p = 63 ÷ 7 = 9

Number of stickers that Gillian had after receiving some stickers from Wendy
= 8 p
= 8 x 9
= 72

Number of stickers that Wendy had after giving to Gillian
= 126 - 72
= 54

2 u = 54

1 u = 54 ÷ 2 = 27

Number of stickers that Wendy had at first
= 3 u
= 3 x 27
= 81

Number of stickers that Gillian had at first
= 126 - 81
= 45

Answer(s): 45