SOLUTION: Johnny had some pears. He sold 2/5 of them and then gave another 144 pears to his friend. Johnny then had 1/3 of his total pears left. How many pears did he have at first?

Question 1184394: Johnny had some pears. He sold 2/5 of them and then gave another
144 pears to his friend. Johnny then had 1/3 of his total pears left. How many
pears did he have at first?
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Johnny had some pears.
He sold 2/5 of them and then gave another 144 pears to his friend.
Johnny then had 1/3 of his total pears left.
How many pears did he have at first?
:
let a = original amt he had
a - a - 144 = a
can use a decimal here
a - .4a - 144 = a
.6a - 144 = a
get rid of the fraction multiply by 3
1.8a - 432 = a
1.8a - a = 432
.8a = 432
a = 432/.8
a = 540 pears originally
:

RELATED QUESTIONS
1. John gave 1/5 of his salary to his parents and spent $240 less than the amount he gave (answered by mananth)

Mr. Johnson had some pears and apples in the ratio 5:2. He bought another 80 pears and... (answered by Theo)

A fruit seller had 60 kg of pears which he graded into 3 sizes A, B and C. The ratio of... (answered by robertb)

Sandy had some apples and Pears. After selling 1/3 of the apples and 7 pears, the number... (answered by Theo,MathTherapy)

Peter has oranges and 5 friends.He gave the 1/2 of it to his friend then gave 1/2 again... (answered by radh)

Danny had some stickers. He gave one-third of the stickers plus 1 sticker to his brother. (answered by macston)

A fruit seller has some apples and pears in the ratio 2:5. He sold 261 pears and bought... (answered by MathTherapy)

Hi There were 108 fruits in a box. Bob gave away 3/8 of the oranges 1/3 of the pears and (answered by josgarithmetic,greenestamps)

Vincent had some peanuts. He ate 1/4 of it last week and 2/3 of the remaining peanuts... (answered by Theo)