Apr 26, 2026

P6 Math: Vivian Sweets

Vivian has some sweets. If she shares the sweets among 4 friends, she will have 3 sweets left. If she shares the sweets among 5 friends, she will have 4 sweets left. If she shares the sweets among 9 friends, she will have 8 sweets left. What is the smallest possible number of sweets she has?


Solution:

Remember Vivian shares with friends, so the number of children in the calculation is always +1.

E.g Vivian shares with 4 friends --> number of children = 4 + 1 = 5.

Method 1: Guess and Check (as taught in Primary 3)

x5:   5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35

+3:   8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38

x6:   6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42

+4:  10, 16, 22, 28, 34, 40, 46

x10: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70

+8:  18, 28, 38, 48, 58, 68, 78

Check the common multiplication there: 28, 58, ...

Method 2: 

Two steps:

1. Find the LCM of 5, 6, 10 , which is 30.

2. Find multiple of 5, 6, or 10, which is less than 30. For example for 5:

     5 --> 5 x 5 = 25 --> 25 + 3 = 28 

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