Rebecca had 4 times as many apples as pears at first. She gave away 16 apples and bought 15 pears. In the end, she had 8 more apples than pears. How many pears did she have at first?

Answer 1

(4x-16)-(1x+15)—-8
3x-31–8
3x=39
13 pears

Answer 2

correct,

your first 2 lines should be
(4x-16)-(1x+15) = 8
3x-31= 8