Question

There were some people on a train. 19 people got off the train at the first stop. 17 people get on the train. Now there is 63 people on the train. How many people were on the train to begin with?

Answer 1

65 people

Explanation:

Well, we need to work backward,

63 on the train and 17 got on so we do 63 - 17 = 46

Then 19 got off so 46 + 19 = 65

Hence, 65 people were on the train on the first stop.

Answer 2

65 people.

Explanation:

We have to work backwards.

We end with 63 people, and at the stop we lost 19 people and gained 17.

`x - 19 + 17 = 63\\`; if x = # people at the beginning

`x - 19 + 17 = 63\\x - 2 = 63\\x = 65`

There were 65 people on the train to begin with.