Question

John has some apples, and two brothers, Jack

and Jim.
John eats 3 of his apples and splits the
remainder equally between himself and each
one of his brothers. Jack and Jim both eat half
the apples they have been given. Together the
three brothers have 4 apples left.
How many apples did John start with?

Answer 1

John now has X - 3

and splits the remainder equally between himself and his brothers

Each of the brothers now has (X-3)/3 apples (we have to assume here that Jack and Jim didn't have any apples to begin with).

Jack and John both eat half of the apples they have been given

They now have (X-3)/3/2, or just (X-3)/6

Together the three brothers have 4 apples left

Now we say 4 = (X-3)/3 (Jim) + (X-3)/6 (Jack) + (X-3)/6 (John)

From here it's algebra. A nice trick we can do here is to add (X-3)/6 + (X-3)/6 together first, since they have the same denominator:

4 = (X-3)/3 + (X-3)/3

From there we can do the same trick, since now we have two terms that are both something/3:

4 = 2(X-3)/3

Multiply both sides by 3, divide both sides by 2:

6 = X - 3

Add 3 to both sides

9 = X

Answer 2

8 or 9

Explanation:

John eats 3 gives brothers and himself the remainder they both eat half and both halves are left making it 1 so add up to how much was eaten 3+1=4 and they have 4 left making it 8. Or just say x-3-1=4 and x=8. It can also be 9 so hopefully, someone else answers because if we add the halves remaining to the altogether it becomes 9 instead. Hope it's right and makes sense.