Question

One day, during their vacation at beach resort, Shella found twice as many sea shells as Anita and Anita found 5 shells more than sandy. Together sandy and Shella found 16 sea shells. How many did each of them find?

Answer 1

Let the number of sea shells found by sandy = x

So, the number of sea shells found by Anita = (x + 5).

The number of sea shells found by Shella = 2 (x + 5).

According to the question,

⇒ x + 2(x + 5) = 16

⇒ x + 2x +10 = 16

⇒ 3x + 10 = 16

Subtracting 10 from both sides, we get

⇒ 3x + 10 – 10 = 16 – 10

⇒ 3x = 6

Dividing both sides by 3, we get

⇒ 3x/6 = 6/3

⇒ x = 4

Thus, the number of sea shells found by Sandy = x = 4,

The number of sea shells found by Anita = x + 5 = 4 + 5 = 9,

The number of sea shells found by Shelia = 2 (x + 5) = 2 (4 + 5) = 2(9) = 18.