This is a question in Maths Problem Made Easy. I read the answer at the back but do not understand it. Pls enlighten me!

Mark, Jordan, Kenny and Gabriel shared $168. Gabriel received 1/7 of the total amount of money received by Mark, Kenny and Jordan. Mark received 3/4 of the total amount of money received by Kenny and Jordan. Jordan received 2/5 as much as Kenny. How much did Jordan receive?

I did the units method and came up with Jordan getting $42. BTW, who is the repeated identity here?! Many thanks to one and all!

oops, i reviewed my answered and i got the correct answer of $24 but still do not understand the answer at the back of the book. So, i am still in the blur. Thanks!

Mark, Jordan, Kenny and Gabriel shared $168. Gabriel received 1/7 of the total amount of money received by Mark, Kenny and Jordan. Mark received 3/4 of the total amount of money received by Kenny and Jordan. Jordan received 2/5 as much as Kenny. How much did Jordan receive?

Hi Jennifer, I do not have that book, thus not able to walk you through the solution it provides. Regardless, let me try to help you with the question using the "Repeated Identity" approach found in the P5 ThinkingMath book.

Firstly, like you, I would solve this using Repeated Identity and convert all the fractions to ratios to make it easier.



Hope this helps.

PS. You don't need to feel blur if you arrived at the correct answer already Did you use the above method to arrive at $24 or an alternative approach? If you want to scan or type out the solution you are referring to, I can try to help you with that too.

Hi Chris! Thanks for helping me see light! You did exactly the same method as my book but with the notes accompanying it, I finally saw it! But so complicated!

I humbly submit my method, it is clearer and more straightforward to me, at least. Pls kindly point out any inherent mistakes, if there are any. Many thanks!

Gabriel : 1 unit
M + K + J : 7 units
Altogether there are 8 units. Since they shared $168, each unit is $21. Hence, Gabriel holds $21. And M + K + J = 168-21 = 147

Now, Mark : 3 units
K + J : 4 units
Together, there are 7 units and they have 147. So each unit is 147/7 = 21.
Hence, Mark has $63 and K+J has $84.

Now, Jordan : 2 units
Kenny : 5 units.
Again, since they have $84 and altogether 7 units. Each unit is now equal to 12.

Finally, since Jordan has 2 units, he therefore has $24!

The only catch here is that i did not use the repeated identity concept here. Becos' i couldn't see the RI that clearly.

BTW, is there a P5 thinking maths textbook or is it the one that's green and titled Conquer Problem Sums? I could not find the detailed explanation that was given above leh....

Hi again,

You are correct the P5 ThinkingMath book is the Conquer Problem Sums book. I just looked through the P5 and P6 books again and notice that we do not have a question that is very very similar (i.e. 4 items like this). This is something that we can include in our next print. Thanks for pointing this out.

Your solution does arrive at the same answer and it is a credit to yourself that you are able to reason out the solution. You should pat yourself on the back for this.

I suggest that finding all the individual units as a matter of practise will help the student as it allows him/her to move in many directions depending on the specific question. In this case, we are given the total value of $168 and can thus use reason to work out line by line. What if the question was written in this manner:

Mark, Jordan, Kenny and Gabriel purchased a present for their mother. Gabriel spent 1/7 of the total amount of money spent by Mark, Kenny and Jordan. Mark spent 3/4 of the total amount of money spent by Kenny and Jordan. Jordan spent 2/5 as much as Kenny. How much did Jordan spend if Mark spent $3 more than Kenny?

Would you still proceed in the same way?

you are right. I guess, this question just happened to be able to be solved in my method due to the given figure of the total amount spent. Thanks for explaining your method to me. BTW, your last question, should there be a different amount for what Mark spent? How do you answer the question if the difference : 7 units is equal to $3? Oh dear, the questions never end!!!!!!!

For the modified question I posted, you would use the combined ratio of:
G : M : J : K
7 : 21 : 8 : 20

to determine that there is 1 unit difference between M & K (21 units - 20 units).
--> 1 unit --> $3
--> Jordan spent 8units --> 8 * $3 = $24
--> Total would be 56units --> 56 x3=$168

For your follow on questions, I am not sure what you mean by "is there a different amount for what Mark spent?" Also, where do you see a difference of 7units?

Gosh! I am truly guilty of not reading the question carefully! My brain must be short-circuited or something! I take back my questions, purely a case of not reading the question properly. Well, this question can finally be put to rest! Thanks so much, Chris!