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GCSE Maths Question Help

So I sat the edexcel *Old Specification* GCSE maths foundation (calculator) paper today and there was a question that completely baffled me. I managed to remember the question and I wondered if someone could solve it for me, just for my own peace of mind to see whether or not I was on the right lines? The question was as follows:

Gemma and Betty both have some sweets. They both have exactly the same number of sweets.
Gemma gives 24 of her sweets to Betty.
Betty now has 5 times the amount of sweets that Gemma has.
Work out the total number of sweets that they have
Reply 1
Original post by mollystevens22
So I sat the edexcel *Old Specification* GCSE maths foundation (calculator) paper today and there was a question that completely baffled me. I managed to remember the question and I wondered if someone could solve it for me, just for my own peace of mind to see whether or not I was on the right lines? The question was as follows:

Gemma and Betty both have some sweets. They both have exactly the same number of sweets.
Gemma gives 24 of her sweets to Betty.
Betty now has 5 times the amount of sweets that Gemma has.
Work out the total number of sweets that they have


Is that it? How many sweets do they both have?

btw i finished my gcses so...
Reply 2
:smile:
72
Original post by mollystevens22
Gemma and Betty both have some sweets. They both have exactly the same number of sweets.
Gemma gives 24 of her sweets to Betty.
Betty now has 5 times the amount of sweets that Gemma has.
Work out the total number of sweets that they have


Total number of sweets nn.

∴5(n2−24)=n2+24\therefore 5(\frac{n}{2}-24)=\frac{n}{2}+24

The answer is n=72n=72, so each starts with 36 sweets. After the transfer of 24, they have 12 and 60.
Reply 5
how??
Reply 6
Original post by Elo1se
how??


Original post by RogerOxon
Total number of sweets nn.

∴5(n2−24)=n2+24\therefore 5(\frac{n}{2}-24)=\frac{n}{2}+24

The answer is n=72n=72, so each starts with 36 sweets. After the transfer of 24, they have 12 and 60.


what calculations do u do
Original post by Elo1se
what calculations do u do


Multiply out the LHS of the equation that I gave and collect terms. Please post your working if you have any issues.
36.36 - 24 = 1236 24 = 6060 / 12 = 5

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