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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from Petal, a parent: Tom bought some oranges. He threw 37 rotten oranges and bought 56 more. Finally he had 220 oranges. How many oranges did Tom had at first? |
Hi,
Think of this as a three step process, Tom bought some oranges, he threw some away and then he bought some more. You know that at after the third step he had 220 oranges. In the third step he bought 56 oranges so how many did he have at the end of the second step? In the second step he threw away 37 oranges so how many did he have at the end of the first step?
Now you can check your answer by going forwards.
Penny
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