At the beginning of a swimming camp, the number of boys was 5 times the number of girls. After 144 boys left the camp, there were twice as many girls as boys. What was the total number of children at the beginning of the camp?

b = 5 g

2 (b - 144) = g

substituting ... b = 10 b - 1440

solve for b , substitute back to find g

So what’s the answer

Let's assume the number of girls at the beginning of the camp is represented by 'g' and the number of boys is represented by 'b'.

According to the given information, we can write two equations:

1. At the beginning of the camp, the number of boys was 5 times the number of girls:
b = 5g

2. After 144 boys left the camp, there were twice as many girls as boys:
(b - 144) = 2(g)

To solve these equations, we can substitute the value of b from the first equation into the second equation:

5g - 144 = 2g

Solving this equation:

5g - 2g = 144
3g = 144
g = 48

Now we can substitute the value of g into the first equation to find the value of b:

b = 5 * g
b = 5 * 48
b = 240

Therefore, at the beginning of the camp, there were a total of (b + g) children:

Total number of children = 240 + 48 = 288

So, the total number of children at the beginning of the camp was 288.

To solve this problem, we can set up a system of equations based on the given information.

Let's assume the initial number of girls is represented by 'g' and the initial number of boys is represented by 'b'.

According to the problem, at the beginning of the camp, the number of boys was 5 times the number of girls. So, we can write the equation: b = 5g.

After 144 boys left the camp, the remaining number of boys equaled twice the number of girls. So, we can write the second equation as: (b - 144) = 2(g).

To find the total number of children at the beginning of the camp, we need to determine the values of 'b' and 'g' that satisfy both equations.

First, we substitute the value of 'b' from the first equation in the second equation:

(5g - 144) = 2g.

Simplifying this equation, we get:
5g - 144 = 2g.

Subtracting 2g from both sides, we have:
3g - 144 = 0.

Adding 144 to both sides, we get:
3g = 144.

Dividing by 3, we find:
g = 48.

Now, substituting this value of 'g' in the first equation, we get:
b = 5 * 48 = 240.

Therefore, at the beginning of the camp, there were a total of:
b + g = 240 + 48 = 288 children.