Matt had 5/8 as many lollipops as Caleb. When Caleb gave half of his lollipops to Matt, he then had 55 fewer lollipops than his friend. How many lollipops did Caleb have at first?
Call the number that Caleb had originally, C
Then Matt had (5/8)C
So
(1/2)C + 55 = (5/8)C + 1/2C subtract (1/2) C from both sides
55 = (5/8)C
55 (8/5) = C
88 = C
