3. Rick, Xavier and Yew Ming bought a present together. Rick paid \( \$ 24 \) more than Yew Ming. Xavier paid twice the arnount Rick paid. If the Cost of the present was \( \$ 104 \), how much did Yew Ming pay for his share?

To find out how much Yew Ming paid, let's break it down step by step. Let Yew Ming's payment be \( y \). Then, Rick's payment would be \( y + 24 \) (since he paid \$24 more than Yew Ming), and Xavier's payment would be \( 2(y + 24) \) (paying twice what Rick did). Now, we know that the total cost of the present is \$104. So, we can set up the following equation: \[ y + (y + 24) + 2(y + 24) = 104 \] Now simplify the equation: \[ y + y + 24 + 2y + 48 = 104 \] \[ 4y + 72 = 104 \] Subtract 72 from both sides: \[ 4y = 32 \] Now divide by 4: \[ y = 8 \] So, Yew Ming paid \$8 for his share!