Question

Three friends returning from a movie stopped to eat at a restaurant. After dinner they paid their bill and noticed a bowl of mints at the front counter. Sita took 1/3 of the mints but returned four because she had a monetary pang of guilt. Fatima then took 1/4 of what was left but returned three for similar reasons. Eswari then took half of the remainder but threw two back into the bowl. The bowl had only 17 mints left when the raid was over. How many mints were originally in the bowl?

• A. $38$
• B. $31$
• C. $41$
• D. $48$

Answer 1

The correct option is D $48$

Number of mint before Eswari has taken
$\Rightarrow (x-(x/2\left)\right)+2=17$
$\Rightarrow \frac{x}{2}=15$
$x=30$
Number of mint before Fatima has taken,
$\Rightarrow (x-(x/4\left)\right)+3=30$
$\Rightarrow \frac{3x}{4}=27$
$\Rightarrow 3x=27\times 4$
$\Rightarrow x=36$
Number of mint before Sita has taken,
$\Rightarrow (x-(x/3\left)\right)+4=36$
$\Rightarrow \frac{2x}{3}=32$
$\Rightarrow 2x=32\times 3$
$\Rightarrow x=48$
Hence $48$ mints were originally in the bowl.