Two Friends A and B each have apples

Question

.If A gives one of his apples to B,then both have an equal number of apples.But if B gives one of his apples to A ,then A will have three times as many apples as B. How Many apples did A and B have initially?

Answer 1

Let A and B have x and y apples respectively.

If A gives one apple to B then,

x-1 = y+1

=> x = y +2  --------------------(1)

if B gives one apple to A then,

x+1 = 3(y-1) ---------------(2)

On putting the value of x from eq(1) in eq(2) we get

(y + 2) + 1 = 3y -3

y +3 = 3y -3

3y-y = 3+3

2y = 6

y=3

So, B had 3 apples and

A had y+2 = 3+2 = 5 apples