Question

Steve and Sasha are brother and sister. Steve has three times as many sisters as brothers, and Sasha has as many brothers as sisters. How many boys and girls are there in this family?

Answer 1

5

Explanation:

Using b and g to refer to the boys and girls in the family, we have that

For Steve: 3(b-1)=g (since his brothers are b-1, since he does not count himself)

For Sasha: g-1=b (the same reasoning as before)

We can the calculate that

g=b+1

3(b-1)=b+1

3b-3=b+1 => 2b=4 => b=2

g=2+1=3

There 3 girls and 2 boys in the family, meaning 5 children in total.