Linus bought a bag of blue marbles and a bag of green marbles. 1/6 of the blue marbles was equal to 3/8 of the green marbles. When 48 green marbles were removed, there were 9 times as many blue marbles as green marbles. What was the total number of green and blue marbles in the bags at first?
So let blue marbles in bag = x & green marbles in bag = y
1/6x = 3/8y
x = 9/4y --(i)
Now, 48 green marbles are removed.
x = 9 (y - 48) -(ii)
9/4y = 9 (y - 48) {x term eqn (i)}
y = 4y - 192
3y = 192
y = 64 marbles
x = 9/4 * 64
= 9 * 16
x = 144 marbles
green marbles = 64
blue marbles = 144
