Q8 of 27 Page 84

Thirty sweets were distributed equally among some kids. Sucking in the sweetness, a budding mathematician said,

“Had we been one less, each would have got one more sweet.”


How many kids were there?

Let the number of kids be x.


Let the number of sweets be y.


Total number of sweets = 30


…eqn 1


…eqn 2




using eqn 1


⇒ x2 – x – 30 = 0


⇒ x2 – 6x + 5x – 30 = 0


⇒ x(x – 6) + 5 (x – 6) = 0


⇒ (x – 6) (x + 5) = 0


∴ x = 6 as we cannot take –5


There were 6 kids.


More from this chapter

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