Question

If a box of sweets is divided among 24 children, they will get 5 sweets each. How many would each get, if the number of the children is reduced by 4?

Answer 1

Number of remaining children = 24 − 4 = 20

Let the number of sweets that each of the 20 students will get be x.

The following table is obtained:

Number of students	24	20
Number of sweets	5	x

If the number of students is smaller, then each student will get more sweets.

Since this is a case of inverse proportion,

24 × 5 = 20 × x

x = `(24xx5)/20`

x = 6

Hence, each student will get 6 sweets.

Answer 2

Sweets given to 1 child = 5

Then sweets given to 24 children = 24 × 5 = 120

Total sweets = 120

If the number of children decreases by 4

Number of remaining children = 24 − 4 = 20

Sweets given to each child = `120/20` = 6

If the number of children is reduced by 4, then each child will get 6 sweets.