Mr. Thomas' Salary

Date: 9/6/96 at 7:0:32
From: Anonymous
Subject: Mr. Thomas' Salary

Mr. Thomas received his salary and immediately spent 1/12 of it to buy 
himself a watch and 3/11 of the remaining to pay for a new television 
set for the family. He then gave his wife $550 for her expenses and 
deposited the rest of the money, which amounted to $1050 into the 
bank. How much was his salary?

Hi!

Let S = Mr. Thomas's salary.

Mr. Thomas spent 1/12 of S on a new watch.

Subtracting the 1/12 of S he spent from the amount he started
with (12/12 of S) leaves:

  12/12 - 1/12 = 11/12 of S remaining.

Then he spent 3/11 of that remaining 11/12 on a TV.

Again, subtract the amount he spent ( 3/11 of 11/12 of S which = 
3/11 * 11/12 = 3/12 of S) from the total he had before (11/12 of S).  
This leaves  11/12 - 3/12 = 8/12 of S.

He then gave $550 to his wife and put $1050 in the bank.  This 
accounted for the remainder of the money.  This means that 550 + 1050 
is the amount he had left after buying the TV and the watch which we 
found to be 8/12 of S.

So 550 + 1050 = 1600 = 8/12 of S.

Writing in a standard equation form:

   1600 = 8/12 * S   
   
Now solve for S

   12 * 1600 / 8 = S
   S = 2400.

So Mr. Thomas' salary was $2400.

Hope this helps.

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