A Boy Has as Many Sisters as Brothers — How Many Children Are There?

This family puzzle takes a little algebra, but the wording gives you everything you need.

Suppose there are b boys and s girls.

For a boy, the number of sisters is s, while the number of brothers is b − 1. The puzzle says those are equal, so:

s = b − 1

For a girl, the number of brothers is b, while the number of sisters is s − 1. The puzzle says she has twice as many brothers as sisters:

b = 2(s − 1)

Substituting s = b − 1 gives b = 4 and s = 3.

So there are 7 children altogether.

Answer: 7 children — 4 boys and 3 girls.

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