1/6 of a box of paperclips are red, 5/12 of them are blue and 2/5 of the remainder are black. If there are 10 black paperclips, how many more blue paper clips are there than red ones?

Answer 1

number of paperclips ---- x
reds ---- (1/6)x
blue ---- (5/12)x
sofar: x/6 + 5x/12 = (7/12)x

remainders ---- x - 7x/12 = 5x/12

so (2/5)(5x/12) = 10
10x/60 = 10
x/6 = 10
x = 60

reds = 60/6 = 10
blues= 5(60)/12 = 25
So there are 15 more blues than reds

check:
reds and blues = 35
remainders = 25
is (2/5) of 25 = 10 ??
YES, all is good