Question 790740
Darlene had some marbles before she won an additional 17 from Joe. Darlene then lost one third of her marbles to her brother. If Darlene now has 34 marbles, how many had she when she started? 
Please help! We don't even know how to begin to solve this.
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Start at the beginning.  Symbolize the steps. Geneate an equation. Solve it.
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Start:: x marbles
Step 1: x + 17 marbles
Step 2: (x+17)-(1/3)(x+17) = (2/3)(x+17)
Step 3: (2/3)(x+17) = 34
Step 4: x+17 = (3/2)(34
x+17 = 3(17)
x = 2*17 = 34 (# of marbles she started with)
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Cheers,
Stan H.
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