By working with fractions, we will see that Tom originally had 144 marbles.
<h3>How to find the number of Marbles that Tom had?</h3>
Let's say that the original number of marbles is M.
Then, he gives 1/4 of them to Bob, so Bob has M/4 marbles.
Bob gives 1/3 of what he had to John, so John has:
Then, John gives 1/2 of what he has to Kevin, so Kevin has:
Then Kevin gives 1/6 (Then he keeps 5/6 of the marbles) of what he has to Michael, and after that he has 5 marbles, this means that:
(5/6)*(M/24) = 5
Solving for M, we get:
M = (6/5)*24*5 = 144
This means that Tom originally had 144 marbles.
If you want to learn more about fractions, you can read:
brainly.com/question/11562149
