The ratio of John's pretzels to Mason's pretzels was 5:4. After John ate 33 pretzels, the ratio became 1:2. How many pretzels did John have at first?

1 answer

given:
John has 5x pretzels
Mason has 4x pretzels, ( note 5x : 4x = 5:4 )

after the exchange:
John has 5x-33
Mason still has 4x
(5x-33)/(4x) = 1/2
10x - 66 = 4x

finish it up