Brady joined the band. in group 1 there are a total of 44 students. there are 8 students who play the oboe. there are 1 over 2 as many students playing the clarinet as the flute. how many students from group 1 play each instrument

There are 44 students total (in the group), so the number of oboe players, the number of clarinet players, and the number of flute players all add to 44.
b + c + f = 44
We know that there are 8 oboe players, so:
8 + c + f = 44
Subtract 8 from both sides
c + f = 36
There are half(1/2) as many people playing the clarinet as the flute. so however many people play the flute, there are half that number playing clarinet. We can say that the number of clarinet players = 1/2 * the number of flute players.
c = 1/2 * f
Plug 1/2 * f into the previous equation for c...
c + f = 36
1/2 * f + f = 36
Divide all the terms by 1/2, a.k.a. multiply by 2
f + 2f = 72
3f = 72
f = 24
So, there are 24 flute players. Plug that number back into one of our old equations:
c + f = 36
c + 24 = 36
c = 12
There are 8 oboe players, 12 clarinet players, and 24 flute players.

The first one, i believe, would be correct. all the others have one thing in common, and that's that they have repeating numbers. in the second one, x and y have repeating 6's and 3's, and in the third, x and y have repeating 6's as well. in the last one, there are repeating 3's. the first one has no repeating numbers.