He had 40 pencils left after he gave away 8, so originally he had 40 + 8 pencils, which is 48.
Now, he bought 4 packages, which had a total of 48 pencils, so divide 48 by 4, which is 12. He had 12 pencils in each package.
To determine the solution arithmetically, first add 8 to 40, then divide 48 by 4.
To determine the solution algebraically, set up and solve the equation 40 = 4x - 8.
Each package contained 12 pencils.
Hope this helps
