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goodyear2013
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 06 Jun 2014, 13:32
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65% (hard)

Question Stats:

64% (02:55) correct 36% (02:47) wrong based on 314 sessions

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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.
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Bunuel
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 06 Jun 2014, 13:57
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goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.
Show more

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 07 Jun 2014, 02:50
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Hi Bunuel,

Thank you for the explanation.

Could you explain what "Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded" is doing in this question, please.
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 07 Jun 2014, 04:00
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goodyear2013
Hi Bunuel,

Thank you for the explanation.

Could you explain what "Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded" is doing in this question, please.
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After the second trade we have the following scenario (as mentioned in the pic).

now question states Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded

see after trade pugsley have p+4 which is 4 fewer than wednesday had before which was w.

so, we can represent the above relationship mathematically as w-(p+4)=4
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pugsley.PNG [ 2.53 KiB | Viewed 5421 times ]

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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 23 Sep 2017, 16:21
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let x be pugsley and y be wednesday
5(x-4)=y+4
5x-y=24
y=5x-24
Second exchange
y=5x-24-4=x+4
5x-28=x+4
4x=32
x=8

but honestly I was confused a bit by wording for the second exchange (not a native-speaker)
took me 5 mins to put it down and fix the logic for equations
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 24 Feb 2018, 09:40
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Bunuel
goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
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Hi Bunuel,

The equation which you wrote "If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded: p + 4 = w - 4".....could you please explain?.....I thought its.. (P+4)=(W-4)-4. Because Wednesday gives away 4 of hers to Pugsley...Please clarify.
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 24 Feb 2018, 10:33
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The answer to the question is 9.

Solution:

Let Pugsley has 'x' spiders and Wednesday has 'y' spiders.

Let us denote Pugsley as P and Wednesday as W

After P gives W 4 spiders,

Number of spiders with each of them,
P= x-4
W= y+4

According to the question,

W=5P
So, y+4 = 5*(x-4)

5x-y=24 ---- (Equation 1)

Now, W gives 4 spiders to P,

P= x+4
W=y-4

According to the question W has still 4 more spiders than P, So we need to add 4 to P to equalize

P+4=W
(x+4) +4 = y-4
y=x+12 ---------(Equation 2)

Solving (1) and (2)

x= 9 , y=21

Verification
P= 9 ; W = 21

9-4= 5
21+4= 25 and 25 = 5*5.

Also, 9+4= 13
21-4= 17 and 17= 13+4

Thanks :)
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 28 Aug 2019, 09:37
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goodyear2013
On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet spiders. If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does. But, if Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded. How many pet spiders does Pugsley have before the trading game commences?

(A) 7
(B) 8
(C) 9
(D) 10
(E) 11

Hi, Though it looks easy, it has a trick at last step. Can anyone help me with this question, please.

If Pugsley were to give Wednesday four of his spiders, Wednesday would then have five times as many spiders as Pugsley does:
(w + 4) = 5(p - 4)

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I am getting the answer 9.

Equation 1= 5(P-4)=W+4
Upon solving: 5P-W=24

Equation 2
W-4- (P+4)=4
Upon solving W-P=12

If Wednesday were to give Pugsley four of her spiders, Pugsley would now have four fewer spiders than Wednesday had before they traded:
p + 4 = w - 4

Solving gives p = 8 and w = 16.

Answer: B.
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On Sunday morning, Pugsley and Wednesday are trading pet 16 Aug 2024, 22:50
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