Problem 19 · 2014 Math Kangaroo
Stretch
Algebra & Patterns
substitution
Captain Sparrow and his pirates loot some gold coins and share them equally amongst themselves. If there were four pirates fewer, they would each get 10 coins more. If there were 50 coins fewer, they would each get 5 coins fewer. How many coins did they share between themselves?
Show answer
Answer: D — 150
Show hints
Hint 1 of 2
Let there be p pirates sharing N coins; write the share as N/p.
Still stuck? Show hint 2 →
Hint 2 of 2
The '50 fewer coins means 5 fewer each' clue gives p directly, then use the other clue to find N.
Show solution
Approach: set up share equations and solve
- Let p pirates share N coins. '50 fewer coins is 5 fewer each' means 50/p = 5, so p = 10.
- 'Four fewer pirates means 10 more each' gives N/(pā4) = N/p + 10, i.e. N/6 = N/10 + 10.
- Then N/6 ā N/10 = 10, so 2N/30 = 10, giving N = 150.
Mark:
· log in to save