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Question 15a

Video explanation ↓

Mrs Lim had 504 fewer roses than sunflowers. After she sold 2/5 of the roses and 3/4 of the sunflowers, she had an equal number of roses and sunflowers left. How many flowers did Mrs Lim have at first? (3 marks)

Answer: 1224 flowers

Workings

equal fraction concept

step 1: find the equal fraction

"After she sold 2/5 of the roses and 3/4 of the sunflowers, she had an equal number of roses and sunflowers left."

roses sold → 2/5 roses left → 1 - 2/5 = 3/5

sunflowers sold → 3/4 sunflowers left → 1/4

3/5 roses = 1/4 sunflowers

step 2: make numerators the same

3/5 roses = 3/12 sunflowers

step 3: convert to units

total roses → 5u total sunflowers → 12u

difference (units) → 12u - 5u = 7u

difference → 504

7u → 504 1u → 504 ÷ 7 = 72

total units → 12 + 5 = 17u

17u → 17 x 72 = 1224

Video explanations

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