document.write( "Question 653092: At the beginning of the bake sale, Mary set aside 4 pies for herself. Karen then bought half of the remaining pies, and 5 more pies were sold during the sale. When the sale was over, there were 3 pies remaining. How many pies were there before the bake sale started? \n" ); document.write( "
Algebra.Com's Answer #408238 by lwsshak3(11628)\"\" \"About 
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At the beginning of the bake sale, Mary set aside 4 pies for herself. Karen then bought half of the remaining pies, and 5 more pies were sold during the sale. When the sale was over, there were 3 pies remaining. How many pies were there before the bake sale started?
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\n" ); document.write( "let x=number of pies were there before the bake sale started?
\n" ); document.write( "x=4+(x-4)/2+5+3
\n" ); document.write( "LCD:2
\n" ); document.write( "2x=8+x-4+10+6
\n" ); document.write( "x=20
\n" ); document.write( "number of pies were there before the bake sale started=20
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