JAMB 1986 · UME · Q6

Three boys shared some oranges. The first received 13\frac13 of the oranges and the second received 23\frac23 of the remainder. If the third boy received the remaining 12 oranges, how many oranges did they share?

Worked solution (try it first)
  1. After the first boy takes 13\frac13, the remainder is 1−13=231 - \frac13 = \frac23 of the oranges.
  2. The second takes 23\frac23 of that remainder, so the third gets the other 13\frac13 of it: 13×23=29\frac13 \times \frac23 = \frac29 of all the oranges.
  3. So 29\frac29 of the total is 12.
  4. One ninth is 12÷2=612 \div 2 = 6, and the total is 6×9=546 \times 9 = 54, option B.

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