Glenn and Jason each have a collection of cricket balls. Glenn said that if Jason would give him 4 of his balls they would have an equal number; but if Glenn would give Jason 4 of his balls, Jason would have 2 times as many balls as Glenn. How many balls does Jason have?
Answer
Jason has 28 balls and Glenn has 20 balls.
If Jason would give Glenn 4 balls, they would have an equal number.
This implies that Jason has 8 balls more than Glenn.
If Jason has j balls, then Glenn has (j—8) balls.
If Glenn would give Jason 4 balls, then Glenn would have (j—12) balls and Jason would have (j + 4) balls.
Now, Jason would have 2 times as many balls as Glenn.
This may be written in the form of the following equation.
j + 4 = 2 (j—12)
The equation may be solved as follows:
1 j = 4 + 2 x 12 = 28; or
j = 28 / 1 = 28.
