I've got twice sweets the you and if we eat one each I will have thrice of you. How many sweets did each have?

Question

Two friends were working out how many sweets they had. One said I've got twice as many as you and if we eat one each I will have three times as many as you. How many did each have?

Answer 1

They have 4 and 2 sweets.
After eating 1 they have 3 and 1 sweets.

Answer 2

I have 4 and you have 2

Answer 3

Let x be the number of sweets one had, and y be the number of sweets the other had.........
then;
x = 2y...................................... (i)
after each eating one, they remain with (x - 1) and (y - 1)

So;
x - 1 = 3(y - 1)
= 3y - 3
so; x = 3y - 2.................. (ii)

substitute eqn (i) into eqn (ii), we have;
2y = 3y - 2

Which means; y = 2...............(iii)

applying eqn (iii) to eqn (i)................ eqn (i) becomes

x = 2 (2)
= 4.

Therefore; one had 4 sweets and thhe other had 2 sweets.