Question 1203170
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There is nothing missing from the description of the problem; and the "equally shared" in the first sentence is NOT inconsistent with the rest of the problem.<br>
On the day of shopping, Collin paid 5/9 as much as Alan and Ben together, and David paid nothing.  That means Collin paid 5/14 of the total and Alan and Ben together paid 9/14 of the total.<br>
Let 5x be the amount that Collin paid and 9x be the amount that Alan and Ben together paid.  Then the total paid was 14x, making each boy's share 14x/4 = 3.5x.<br>
The $36 that David paid Collin the next day was the excess amount Collin paid above his share, which was 5x-3.5x = 1.5x.  So<br>
1.5x = $36
x = $36/1.5 = $24<br>
The amount Collin paid was 5x = $120.
The amount Alan and Ben together paid was 9x = $216.
The total amount paid was 14x = $336.<br>
Alan paid $4 more than Ben; simple algebra or some mental arithmetic show that Ben paid $106 and Alan paid $110.<br>
ANSWERS:
a) Since the total was shared equally 4 ways, the total of Alan's and Ben's shares was half of the total of $336, which is $168.
b) On the day of shopping, the amount Ben paid was $106.<br>