1994 AHSME Problems/Problem 5
Problem
Pat intended to multiply a number by but instead divided by . Pat then meant to add but instead subtracted . After these mistakes, the result was . If the correct operations had been used, the value produced would have been
Solution
We reverse the operations that he did and then use the correct operations. His end result is . Before that, he subtracted which means that his number after the first operation was . He divided by so his number was .
Now, we multiply by to get . Finally, . Since , our answer is .
--Solution by TheMaskedMagician