# Aliyah had some candy to give her four children. She first took ten pieces for herself and then evenly divided the rest among her children. Each child received two pieces. With how many pieces did she start?

Jul 15, 2018

$18$ pieces in the beginning

#### Explanation:

Let $x$ be the number of candies Aliyah has in the first place

"she first took 10 pieces for herself" means that there are $10$ less candies ie $x - 10$ remaining

"evenly divided the rest among her children" means that since there are 4 children, each child got $\frac{x - 10}{4}$ candies

"each child received $2$ pieces" means that since each child got $\frac{x - 10}{4}$ candies, then $\frac{x - 10}{4} = 2$

$\frac{x - 10}{4} = 2$

$x - 10 = 8$

$x = 18$

Therefore, Aliyah had $18$ pieces of candy in the first place

Jul 15, 2018

Aliyah started with $18$ pieces of candy.

#### Explanation:

Let $x$ represent the number of pieces of candy that Aliyah started with. $4 \times 2$ is the number of pieces that she gave her four children. Add the ten pieces she kept for herself and the total number of pieces that she gave to her four children.

$x = 10 + 4 \times 2$

$x = 10 + 8$

$x = 18$