Sam had foreign stamps and local stamps. After giving 1/4 of his foreign stamps and 11 local stamps, he had an equal number of foreign and local stamps. How many local stamps did he have in the beginning?

Question

I got 32 for the answer by guessing and checking but what equation would I use to get that answer?

Answer 1

If he started with f foreign and g local stamps, then we have

3f/4 = g-11
3f = 4g-44
4g-3f = 44

so, if g=32, f = 28

But there are lots of other possibilities.