Question 1207244
i get that she had 7 friends and 40 pebbles.


here's how.


y = number of pebbles
x = number of friends.


if she gave 6 pebbles to each friend, she was 2 short leads to y - 6x = -2.
if she gave 5 pebbles to each friend, she had 5 left leads to y - 5x = 5.


subtract the second equation from the first to get 0 - x = -7.
solve for x to get x = 7.


when x = 7, y - 6x = -2 becomes y - 42 = -2.
solve for y to get y = 40.


replace y with 40 and x with 7 in both equations and you get:
40 - 42 = -2 and 40 - 35 = 5.


this confirms the values of x and y are true.


she had 7 friends and 40 pebbles.


your solution is that she had 40 pebbles in total.