Question 1207244
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Jenny distributed some pebbles to her friends. 
If she gave 6 pebbles to each friend she would be 2 pebbles short. 
If she {{{highlight(gave)}}} 5 pebbles to each friend she would have 5 pebbles left. 
How many pebbles did she have in total.
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Let P be the number of pebbles and let F be the number of friends.


Consider first statement "If she gave 6 pebbles to each friend she would be 2 pebbles short". 
It literally means that  

    P = 6F - 2.    (1)


Consider second statement "If she gave 5 pebbles to each friend she would be 5 pebbles left". 
It literally means that  

    P = 5F + 5.    (2)


Based on (1) and (2), we can write

    6F - 2 = 5F + 5.


It implies

    6F - 5F = 5 + 2

       F    =   7.


So, there are 7 friends to distribute pebbles.

From formula (1), the number of pebbles is  P = 6*7 - 2 = 42 - 2 = 40.

From formula (2), we get the same number of pebbles  P = 5*7 + 5 = 35 + 5 = 40.


<U>ANSWER</U>.  Jenny had 40 pebbles, in total.
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Solved.