Marbles Troubles

Ref : P2 Lesson 12

Alan, Ben and Charles had 864 trading cards. Ben won some of the cards from Alan and as a result, Ben’s cards increased by 50%. Charles then won some cards from Ben and Charles’ cards increased by 40%. Finally, Charles lost some of his cards to Alan and Alan’s cards increased by 20%. In the end, they realized they each had an equal number of cards. How many cards did Alan have at first?
Red Swastika P6 SA1 2009

Dear Parents,

Baffled by the above problem sum? Try working backwards.
Your child will be tasked to solve such problem sums just a few years down the road. So start preparing them today. Work out this week’s Family Math, “Marbles Troubles” with them.

Marbles Troubles

There are 10 marbles altogether in box A and box B.
5 marbles from box A are transferred to box B.
2 marbles are then transferred from box B to box A. The two boxes now contained the same number of marbles. How many marbles are there in each box at first?

>>Solution