Samantha, Aira, and Joe received 6 rubber bands each after they divided their bands equally. If Samantha had 5 more bands than Aira and Aira had 1 fewer band than Joe, how many rubber bands did Aira have? Let's answer step by step:
Samantha, Aira, and Joe have 6 x 3 = 18 rubber bands altogether. If we let x be the number of bands that Aira had, then Samantha had x + 5. Since Aira had 1 fewer band than Joe, then Joe had x + 1. Since the total number of bands is 18, then the equation is x + (x + 5) + (x + 1) = 18. By simplifying the left side of the equation, we have 3x + 6 = 18. Putting all the constant terms on the right side gives 3x = 12. So the value of x is 12 / 3 = 4. Hence, Aira had 4 rubber bands. The answer: 4.