marcus has a box of chocolates. he eats 1/5 of them. his sister eats 1/3 of the chocolates that are left. there is 24 chocolates left in the box. how many where in the box to start with.
(1/5)x + (1/3 * 4/5)x + 24 = x
(3/15)x + (4/15)x + 24 = x
24 = (8/15)x
24 / (8/15) = x
24 * (15/8) = x
45 = x