Question

Anshu gave Bobby and Chandana as
many pens as each one of them already
had. Then Chandana gave Anshu and
Bobby as many pens as each already
had Now each had an equal number of
pens. The total number of pens is 72.​

Answer 1

Answer:

in the beginning:

Ashnu has : 42 pens

Bobby has :6 pens

Chandana has :24 pens

Step-by-step explanation:

We can solve this by starting from the back reversing the steps:

the total number of pens is 72  in the end we were told that they have an equal number of pens which is 72/3 = 24

so Anshu has 24 pens so do Bobby and Chandana

just before they get equal number of pens, Chandana gives Ashnu and Bobby as many pens as each already has meaning she doubles the amount for each of them

after doubling the amounts the result is 24 so to get what it was before it was doubled we can do 24/2 = 12

so Ashnu and Bobby had 12 pens each before Chandana gave them another 12 pens each

chandana gives them 12 pens each that means in total chandana gives out 24 pens and after giving out 24 pens she has 24 pens left

so before she gave pens to ashnu and bobbby she had 48 pens

we were told at the beginning that ashnu gave bobby and chandana as many pens as they already had leaving chandana with 48 pens and bobby with 12 pens so he gave chandana 24 pens and gave bobby 6 pens

in total ashnu gave out 24 + 6 pens = 30 pens

and after giving out 30 pens, he had 12 pens which chandana later doubles to 24

so in the beginning:

Ashnu has :30 + 12 = 42 pens

Bobby has :6 pens

Chandana has :24 pens

Check: 42 + 6 + 24 = 72 pens

the explanation is long but i hope it helps