Joelle and Gem had a total of 40 stickers. Gem gave ¹₆ of her stickers to Joelle. In return, Joelle gave ¹₅ of the total number of stickers that she had to Gem. In the end, each girl had the same number of stickers. How many stickers did Joelle have at first?

	Joelle	Gem	Total
Before 1	?	6 u	40
Change 1	+ 1 u	- 1 u
After 1	25	5 u	40
Before 2	5 p	5 u	40
Change 2	- 1 p	+ 1 p
After 2	4 p (20)	20	40

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

Number of stickers that Gem and Joelle each had in the end is the same.

Number of stickers that Joelle had in the end
= 40 ÷ 2
= 20

Number of stickers that Joelle had in the end = 4 p

4 p = 20

1 p = 20 ÷ 4 = 5

Number of stickers that Joelle had after receiving some stickers from Gem
= 5 p
= 5 x 5
= 25

Number of stickers that Gem had after giving to Joelle
= 40 - 25
= 15

5 u = 15

1 u = 15 ÷ 5 = 3

Number of stickers that Gem had at first
= 6 u
= 6 x 3
= 18

Number of stickers that Joelle had at first
= 40 - 18
= 22

Answer(s): 22