Question

John gave half of his stamps to Jim. Jim gave gave half of his stamps to Carla. Carla gave 1/4 of the stamps given to her to Thomas and kept the remaining 12. How many stamps did John start with?

Answer 1

This question wants you to reverse the operations that occurred.

Start with 12 stamps.

Divide this number by 3/4. This represents Carla giving 1/4 of the stamps to Thomas.

$12 / \frac{3}{4} = 16$

Multiply this number by 2. This represents Jim giving half of the stamps to Carla.

$16 * 2 = 32$

Multiply this number by 2. This represents John giving half of his stamps to Jim.

$32 * 2 = 64$

John started out with 64 stamps.