Question

Mr. Chin went to a store where he spent one-half of his money and then $14 more. He then went to another store where he spent one-third of his remaining money and then $14 more. He then had no money left. How much did he have when he entered the first store?

Answer 1

Before going to the first store he had $ 112.

Explanation:

Before going to the first store Mr. Chin had all his money, which we will call by "x". After the first store he had:

y = x/2 - 14

He then went to a second store and he spent all his money in a way that:

y/3 - 14 = 0

Because after that store he had no money left. So we can use the second equation to solve for y and then use that value to solve for x, that is the amount of money he had before going to the first store. We have:

y/3 = 14

y = 14*3 = 42

From the first equation:

42 = x/2 - 14

x/2 - 14 = 42

x/2 = 42 + 14

x/2 = 56

x = 112

Before going to the first store he had $ 112.