Zara and Min had a total of 120 erasers. Min gave ¹₄ of her erasers to Zara. In return, Zara gave ¹₆ of the total number of erasers that she had to Min. In the end, each girl had the same number of erasers. How many erasers did Zara have at first?

	Zara	Min	Total
Before 1	?	4 u	120
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	72	3 u	120
Before 2	6 p	3 u	120
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	5 p (60)	60	120

Since Min gave some erasers to Zara and Zara then gave some erasers to Min, it is an internal transfer of erasers between the two girls. So, the total number of erasers remains unchanged.

Number of erasers that Min and Zara each had in the end is the same.

Number of erasers that Zara had in the end
= 120 ÷ 2
= 60

Number of erasers that Zara had in the end = 5 p

5 p = 60

1 p = 60 ÷ 5 = 12

Number of erasers that Zara had after receiving some erasers from Min
= 6 p
= 6 x 12
= 72

Number of erasers that Min had after giving to Zara
= 120 - 72
= 48

3 u = 48

1 u = 48 ÷ 3 = 16

Number of erasers that Min had at first
= 4 u
= 4 x 16
= 64

Number of erasers that Zara had at first
= 120 - 64
= 56

Answer(s): 56