Question 1044345
.
Joe,Amirah,Gastle and Sharifa had some lollipops .Joe had 5 lollipops less than 1/3 the total number of lollipops.
Amirah had 36 lollipops more than 1/3 the total number of lollipops .Gastle had 1/5 the number of lollipops Joe had 
and Sharifa had 5 lollipops less than Gastle. How many lollipops were there in total?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


<pre>
Let x be one third of the total number of lollipops.

Then Joe had x - 5 lollipops.

Then Amirah had x + 36 lollipops.

Gastle had {{{(x-5)/5}}} lollipops.

Sharifa had {{{(x-5)/5 - 5}}} lollilops.

The equation is:

Joe + Amira + Gastle + Sharifa = 3x,   or

(x-5) + (x+36) + {{{(x-5)/5}}} + {{{(x-5)/5 - 5}}} = 3x.

Multiply both sides by 5. You will get

5x - 25 + 5x + 180 + x-5 + x-5 - 25 = 15x,   or

12x + 120 = 15x,

3x = 120. 

It is exactly what the problem is asking for.

<U>Answer</U>.  120 lollipops.
</pre>