Asked by M.A.

Mary had some M&M candy. She ate one, then gave half of the remaining candy to Bill. She ate another candy, then gave 1/3 of the remaining to Edie, leaving 6. How many did she give away to Bill and Edie?
Answered by y912f
40???
Answered by Dr Russ
If there are 6 left after Mary has given a third to Edie then there must have been 9 to start with and she gave 3 to Edie.
Before she ate one there must have been 10 sweets.
So after giving half to Bill she has 10 left there must have been 20 to start with and she gave 10 to Bill.

Thus she gave 3+10 = 13 to Bill and Edie.

Just check my maths. No idea how you got to 40.
Answered by y912f
oops, i misread the problem
Answered by MsPJ
Don't forget the one she ate before she gave 1/2 to Bill. I got that she started with 21.
Answered by Dr Russ
"Don't forget the one she ate before she gave 1/2 to Bill. I got that she started with 21" But that is not the question, the question asks "how many she gave to Bill and Edie?", NOT "how many did she start with?"
Answered by M.A.
Thank you. I can follow the solution quite easily as explained, but I could never have come up with the solution from scratch other than just starting with numbers and trial and error. So how do you begin such a problem?
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