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jmc

prealgebra intermediate

Problem

Emma had just been given some coins by her parents. On the way to school she lost exactly half of them, and then by retracing her steps she found exactly four-fifths of the coins she had lost. What fraction of the coins that she received from her parents were still missing after Emma retraced her steps? Express your answer as a common fraction.
Solution
Let the number of coins Emma received from her parents be . She lost coins on the way to school. She found of the coins by retracing her steps. Thus, Emma has coins. She is still missing coins, so she is missing of the coins.
Final answer
\frac{1}{10}