(Source: Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Oct 1995)
Some people got on a bus. At the first stop, 2/ 5 of the people got off and 3/ 5 of the original number got on. At the second stop, _ of the people got off and 1/ 3 of the number that was left on the bus got on. At the last stop, _ of the people got off, leaving 5 people on the bus. How many people were on the bus before the bus reached the first stop?
Since so many students at UGA rely on the transit system (either through UGA or Athens-Clarke County), I will allow you to explore what both transit systems offer: (Please click on one of the icons below...the dawg - for the UGA transit and THE BUS for Athens-Clarke County transit...thanks to Best-Of-Web.com and http://www.gifs.net/for the great animated gifs...and to http://www.webplaces.com/html/sounds.htm for great sounds.)
I browsed through some of the routes The Bus takes on its daily mission and I found that I have been on route 14 many times as an undergraduate. To visit and check schedules click The Bus Athens Transit.
Now, let's reexamine the problem using some real-life pertinent information:
Some people got on The Bus....at the UGA Arches.
Since so many students have early morning classes, I would make the inference that
At the first stop, (UGA North & South Campus), 2/ 5 of the people got off and 3/ 5 of the original number got on.
At the second stop, (UGA Family Housing), _ of the people got off and 1/ 3 of the number that was left on the bus got on.
At the last stop, (University Commons Apartments), _ of the people got off, leaving 5 people on the bus.
since so many students live at the University Commons Apartments, many students will get off at this stop for rest, lunch, etc...so....
How many people were on the bus before the bus reached the first stop?