Question

There were some pieces of candy in a bowl. Shirley took half of them. Then Rose took half of the pieces left in the bowl. After that, Susan took half of the remaining pieces of candy. In the end there were 8 pieces of candy left in the bowl. How many candies were there in the bowl at the beginning?

Answer 1

Number of pieces of candy in the bowl=64

Explanation:

Let

x=number of pieces of candy in a bowl

Shirley took=1/2 of x

=1/2x

Remaining

x-1/2x

= 2x-x/2

=1/2x

Rose took half of the pieces left in the bowl=1/2 of 1/2x

=1/2*1/2x

=1/4x

Remaining

1/2x-1/4x

=2x-x/4

=1/4x

Susan took 1/2 of the remaining pieces of candy=1/2 of 1/4x

=1/2*1/4x

=1/8x

Remaining 8

1/8x=8

x=8÷1/8

=8*8/1

=64

x=64