Maths q spaceplace 14blocks in 3 piles the 1st pile should have one less than the 3rd the 3rd pile should have twice as many as the second how many blocks are there in each pile?

Answer 1

3 piles of blocks: x, y & z Equations: Equ.1: x + y + z = 14 (Total number of blocks = 14) Equ.2: x = z-1 (First pile has one less than the third one) Equ.3: z = 2y Rearrange: y = z/2 (Third pile has twice as many as second one) Substitute the equations 2 & 3 into equation 1, gives us: Equ.4: (z-1) + (z/2) + z = 14 Expand brackets to get: 5z/2 = 15 Rearrange to get: z = (2 x 15)/5 Thus: z = 6 and: y = (z/2) = 6/2 = 3 and: x = (z-1) = 6-1 = 5