Question

A flock of geese on a pond was being observed continuously. At 1:00pm, 1/5 of the geese flew away. At 2:00pm, 1/8 of the geese that remained flew away. At 3:00pm, 3 times as many geese has had flown away at 1:00pm flew away, leaving 28 geese on the pond. At no other time did any geese arrive or fly away.

How would I set up the equation to find out how many flocks of geese were in the original flock?

Answer 1

1:00 -- 1/5 gone, leaving 4/5
2:00 -- 4/5 * 1/8 = 1/10 flew, leaving 4/5 - 1/10 = 7/10
3:00 -- 3 * 1/5 = 3/5 gone, leaving 1/10
x/10 = 28
so the original flock was 280 geese
Trying to do all that in a single equation is possible, but would be very cumbersome. Good luck with that effort.

Answer 2

Is there a different way to do it?
1:00 is 1/5 and that becomes 4/5
2:00 is 1/8 and that becomes 7/8
3:00 is 3x
The equation would equal to 28

Answer 3

Your terminology is rather opaque.
And what do you mean when you finally say

The equation would equal to 28

what equation? An equation is never "equal" to anything.

Answer 4

Then what would the equation be by using 28, 3x, 7/8, and 4/5

Answer 5

Original flock = X geese.

1:00 PM : x - x/5 = 4x/5 remained.
2:00 PM: 4x/5 - 1/8 * 4x/5 = 4x/5 - 4x/40 = 32x/40 - 4x/40 = 7x/10 remained
3:00 PM: 7x/10 - 3x/5 = 7x/10 - 6x/10 = x/10 remained.

x/10 = 28.
X = 280 geese.