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Maria and Lucy spun a coin $30$ times.
Whenever the coin showed heads, Maria gave $2$ sweets to Lucy.
Whenever the coin showed tails, Lucy gave $3$ sweets to Maria.
After all $30$ spins, Maria and Lucy both had the same number of sweets that they started with. How many times did the coin show tails?
If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task that challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
Sharing Sweets
Age 11 to 14
ShortChallenge Level 
Maria and Lucy spun a coin $30$ times.
Whenever the coin showed heads, Maria gave $2$ sweets to Lucy.
Whenever the coin showed tails, Lucy gave $3$ sweets to Maria.
After all $30$ spins, Maria and Lucy both had the same number of sweets that they started with. How many times did the coin show tails?
If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task that challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.
This problem is taken from the UKMT Mathematical Challenges.
You can find more short problems, arranged by curriculum topic, in our short problems collection.
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