In the first act of a play, all the actors were on stage. The second act opened with 1/2 the actors on stage, and then 5 actors left. After that, 1/2 remaining actors left, and 4 actors remained on stage. How many actors were on stage in the first act?

Answer 1

first act, number of actors ---- x
2nd act, x/2 on stage, then 5 left
actors remaining x/2 - 5

then 1/2 of those left, leaving (x/2 - 5)/2

but (x/2 - 5)/2 = 4
x/2 - 5 = 8
x/2 = 13
x = 26

Answer 2

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