Naomi, Macy, Sebastian have 234 stamps in all. Naomi gives 16 stamps to Macy and Sebastian. Naomi then has 3 times as many stamps as Macy, and Macy has twice as many stamps as Sebastian. How many stamps does Naomi have at first?
Please answer this I need help.
78
To solve this problem, let's break it down step by step.
Let's assume the number of stamps that Sebastian has is "x."
According to the problem, Macy has twice as many stamps as Sebastian, so Macy has 2x stamps.
Naomi has 3 times as many stamps as Macy, which means Naomi has 3 * (2x) = 6x stamps.
Now, the problem states that Naomi gives 16 stamps to both Macy and Sebastian. After giving away these stamps, Naomi is left with (6x - 16) stamps.
The total number of stamps is given as 234. So we can write the equation:
x + 2x + (6x - 16) = 234
Let's simplify this equation:
9x - 16 = 234
Now, let's solve for x:
9x = 234 + 16
9x = 250
x = 250/9
x ≈ 27.78
Since the number of stamps cannot be fractional, we can round x to the nearest whole number, which is 28.
Therefore, Sebastian has 28 stamps.
Macy has twice as many stamps as Sebastian, so Macy has 2 * 28 = 56 stamps.
Naomi has 6 times as many stamps as Macy, so Naomi has 6 * 56 = 336 stamps.
Therefore, Naomi had 336 stamps at first.