Question

Gillian had 48 more stickers than Tom initially. After Tom gave away 12 stickers, gillian had four times as many stickers as Tom. how many stickers did gillian have initially?

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Answer 1

Gillian had 80 stickers initially

Explanation:

let the number of stickers Tom had initially be x , then

initially Gillian ha x + 48 ( that is 48 more than Tom )

Tom gives 12 away so has x - 12 stickers

After this Gillian has 4 times as many stickers as Tom, that is 4(x - 12)

equating the two expressions

x + 48 = 4(x - 12 ) ← distribute parenthesis

x + 48 = 4x - 48 ( subtract x from both sides )

48 = 3x - 48 ( add 48 to both sides )

96 = 3x ( divide both sides by 3 )

32 = x

initially Gillian has x + 48 stickers = 32 + 48 = 80 stickers