SOLUTION: Hi luke has 13 finches now but yesterday he lost 3/4 of his finches.the day before that he gave 6 finches away and 2 days before that he purchased 2 pairs of gouldian finches. Ho

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Misc -> SOLUTION: Hi luke has 13 finches now but yesterday he lost 3/4 of his finches.the day before that he gave 6 finches away and 2 days before that he purchased 2 pairs of gouldian finches. Ho      Log On

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Question 1018996: Hi
luke has 13 finches now but yesterday he lost 3/4 of his finches.the day before that he gave 6 finches
away and 2 days before that he purchased 2 pairs of gouldian finches. How many finches did he have before he bought the gouldians. I worked it to be 58 finches solution is 54 finches.
Thanks

Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let +x+ = number of fiinches he started with
He then bought 2 pairs, so he has
+x+%2B+4+ finches
------------------
He then gave 6 away, so he has:
+x+%2B+4+-+6+
---------------
Then he lost 3/4 of the finches, so he has:
+%281%2F4%29%2A%28+x+%2B+4+-+6+%29+
---------------
And now he has 13 finches so,
+%28+1%2F4%29%2A%28+x+-+2+%29+=+13+
Multiply both sides by +4+
+x+-2+=+52+
+x+=+54+
He started with 54 finches