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Leah entered an essay writing competition and won a cash prize to use towards her college expenses. She used a third of the money to buy a meal plan, a fourth of the money to buy textbooks, and a sixth of the money to buy a parking permit. She put the remaining $250 towards buying a new computer. How much money did Leah win from the competition?

User Vvvvv
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To find out how much money Leah won from the competition, we can work backwards from the information given.

We know that Leah put $250 towards buying a new computer, which was the remaining amount after she spent a third, a fourth, and a sixth of the money on different items.

Let's break it down step-by-step:

1. Leah used a third of the money to buy a meal plan. This means she spent 1/3 of the money on the meal plan.

2. Leah used a fourth of the money to buy textbooks. This means she spent 1/4 of the money on textbooks.

3. Leah used a sixth of the money to buy a parking permit. This means she spent 1/6 of the money on the parking permit.

Now, let's calculate the total amount Leah spent on the meal plan, textbooks, and parking permit:

1/3 + 1/4 + 1/6

To add fractions, we need to find a common denominator. In this case, the least common denominator is 12.

1/3 can be written as 4/12 (multiply numerator and denominator by 4).

1/4 can be written as 3/12 (multiply numerator and denominator by 3).

1/6 can be written as 2/12 (multiply numerator and denominator by 2).

Adding the fractions together, we get:

4/12 + 3/12 + 2/12 = 9/12

Now, let's subtract the fraction spent from 1 (since 1 represents the total amount of money Leah won) to find the fraction of money Leah has left:

1 - 9/12 = 3/12

So, Leah has 3/12 of the money left after buying the meal plan, textbooks, and parking permit.

We know that Leah put $250 towards buying a new computer, which represents 3/12 of the money she won. So, we can set up the following equation:

(3/12) * x = $250

To solve for x, we can multiply both sides of the equation by the reciprocal of 3/12, which is 12/3:

(3/12) * x * (12/3) = $250 * (12/3)

This simplifies to:

x = $250 * 12/3

x = $1,000

Therefore, Leah won $1,000 from the competition.

User Ariel Allon
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