Question 1111858
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<U>Answer</U>.  &nbsp;&nbsp;4&nbsp; boys and &nbsp;3&nbsp; girls. &nbsp;&nbsp;7 children, &nbsp;in all.


<U>Solution</U>


<pre>
Let b be the number of boys and g be the number of girls.

Then

b - 1 = g       (1)   ("each boy has as many sisters as brothers")
2*(g-1) = b     (2)   ("each girl has only half as many sisters as brothers")


First equation says "each boy has b-1 brothers, and this number is equal to the number of sisters".


Second equation says "each girl has g-1 sisters, and .. . and so on . . . ")


From (1), substitute "b" into (2) and get the answer.
</pre>

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Solved.


Thanks for this entertainment problem posted.


It was a pleasure to solve it.



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<U>Comment from student</U>: I didn't understand the wording, but I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for answering.
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<U>My responce</U>:  &nbsp;I &nbsp;Emailed &nbsp;this problem today late in the evening to two my grandsons.  


One of them is &nbsp;12-th grade; &nbsp;the other is &nbsp;11-th grade.


To my great satisfaction, &nbsp;both returned me their correct solutions less than in half an hour.


I was  very happy !