2011 AMC 10B Problems/Problem 6

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Problem 6

On Halloween Casper ate $\frac{1}{3}$ of his candies and then gave $2$ candies to his brother. The next day he ate $\frac{1}{3}$ of his remaining candies and then gave $4$ candies to his sister. On the third day he ate his final $8$ candies. How many candies did Casper have at the beginning?

$\textbf{(A)}\ 30 \qquad\textbf{(B)}\ 39 \qquad\textbf{(C)}\ 48 \qquad\textbf{(D)}\ 57 \qquad\textbf{(E)}\ 66$

Solution

Let $x$ represent the amount of candies Casper had at the beginning. \begin{align*} \frac{2}{3} \left(\frac{2}{3} x - 2\right) - 4 - 8 &= 0\\ \frac{2}{3} x - 2 &= 18\\ \frac{2}{3} x &= 20\\ x &= \boxed{\textbf{(A)} 30} \end{align*}