9. Aliyah had some candy to give to her four
   children. She first took ten pieces for
   herself and then evenly divided the rest
   among her children. Each child received
   two pieces. With how many pieces did she
   start?

Aliyah started with 30 pieces of candy. Here’s how you can figure it out: After taking 10 pieces for herself, she had the remaining candy divided among her four children, who each got 2 pieces. That means the children received a total of 8 pieces (4 children x 2 pieces each). So, if she had 10 pieces and distributed 8, she must have started with 10 + 8 = 18. But don’t forget to add the total amount back for the initial calculation. Therefore, it’s 10 (for herself) + 8 (for the children) = 18 pieces.