Tom spends one third of his money on a book. He then spends a quarter of what is left on lunch. He has £18 left. How much did he have at the start?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. £36
- Step 1: After the book he has 2/3 of his money.
- Step 2: Lunch takes 1/4 of that, leaving 3/4 of 2/3, which is 1/2 of the original amount.
- Step 3: So £18 is half of the start, and the start is £36.
Answer
£36.
Why not the others: £27 and £24 come from wrongly treating the fractions as separate shares of the remainder, and £54 multiplies by 3.
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