Charlie, Don and Egan had 180 stamps altogether. Charlie gave 1/3 of his stamps to Don. After that, Don gave 1/4 of his stamps to Egan. The three boys had the same number of stamps in the end. How many stamps did Charlie have at first?
180 all together
all end up with the same (60 each) so C - 1/3 C = 60
C = 90 stamps originally
Let Charlie, Don and Egan have c, d and e number of stamps initially.
At the end, all 3 will have 60 stamps each. So after giving away 1/3 of his stamps, Charlie is left with 2/3c stamps. Similarly, Don is left with 3/4d stamps.
Now. 2/3c=60 => c=90
3/4d=60 => d=80
Thus, e= 180-(c+d)= 10
Verification: 1/3c + 1/4d + e = 60
Ans: 90, 80 and 10
Charlie had 90 stamps, gave 30 (1/3) to Don, leaving 60 stamps.
Don had 50 stamps, received 30 from Charlie, making 80, then gave 20 (1/4) to Egan, leaving Don with 60 stamps.
Egan had 40 stamps, received 20 from Don, giving Egan also a total of 60 stamps.