SOLUTION: Gareth bought 7 rulers and 12 magnets with 1/3 of his monthly allowance. The cost of a magnet is 3 times the cost of a ruler. He used 2/3 of his remaining allowance to buy more r

Question 1185337: Gareth bought 7 rulers and 12 magnets with 1/3 of his monthly allowance. The
cost of a magnet is 3 times the cost of a ruler. He used 2/3 of his remaining allowance to
buy more rulers. How many rulers did he buy in all?
Welp
Answer by greenestamps(13200) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

The problem as stated is faulty....

A magnet costs 3 times as much as a ruler, so buying 7 rulers and 12 magnets costs the same as buying 7+3(12)=43 rulers.

Since that purchase cost 1/3 of his allowance, his allowance is enough to buy 43*3=129 rulers.

After that purchase he had 2/3 of his allowance left, and he spent 2/3 of that amount to buy more rulers. 2/3 of 2/3 is 4/9, so this statement says he spent 4/9 of his allowance to buy more rulers.

But 4/9 of 129 is not a whole number -- so the problem is flawed.

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