SOLUTION: The number of lollies in a jar was divided into 4 lots. The first lot when divided by 9, the second lot when divided by 7, the third lot when divided by 3 and the fourth lot when d

Algebra ->  Rate-of-work-word-problems -> SOLUTION: The number of lollies in a jar was divided into 4 lots. The first lot when divided by 9, the second lot when divided by 7, the third lot when divided by 3 and the fourth lot when d      Log On


   



Question 1032533: The number of lollies in a jar was divided into 4 lots. The first lot when divided by 9, the second lot when divided by 7, the third lot when divided by 3 and the fourth lot when divide by 5 resulted in the same whole number. What is the least number of lollies that could have been in the jar?
Found 2 solutions by josgarithmetic, robertb:
Answer by josgarithmetic(39618) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
MULTIPLE        PRODUCTS        
1             9      7      3      5
2             18     14     6      10
3            27      21     9      15
4            36      28     12     20
5            45      35     15     25
6            54      42     18     30
7            63      49     21     35
and you can continue this way but it is not always
the most efficient way to find the number in common.


Try this instead:
The list of number lot divisors,
system%283%5E2%2C7%2C3%2C5%29
-
The quantity of lollies is highlight%289%2A7%2A5=highlight%28315%29%29.

Answer by robertb(5830) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Let w = # of lollies in the 1st lot,
x = # of lollies in the 2nd lot,
y = # of lollies in the 3rd lot,
z = # of lollies in the 4th lot.
The problem is to minimize w + x + y + z.
From the second sentence in the problem, we are given that
w%2F9+=+x%2F7+=+y%2F3+=+z%2F5+=+k,
where k is a whole number.
==> w = 9k, x = 7k, y = 3k, and z = 5k.
==> w + x + y + z = 9k + 7k + 3k + 5k = 24k.
Since the minimum value for k is 1, it follows that the least number of lollies that could have been in the jar is highlight%2824%29.