To solve this problem step-by-step, we'll break it into two parts: first, determining how many sweets Lea keeps, and second, figuring out how many sweets she gives away.
1. Calculate the number of sweets Lea keeps for herself:
- Lea has a total of 72 sweets.
- She decides to keep [tex]\(\frac{1}{4}\)[/tex] (one-quarter) of the sweets.
- To find the number of sweets she keeps, we multiply the total number of sweets by the fraction she keeps:
[tex]\[
\frac{1}{4} \times 72 = 18
\][/tex]
- So, Lea keeps 18 sweets for herself.
2. Calculate the number of sweets Lea gives to her friends:
- Lea originally had 72 sweets.
- She keeps 18 sweets for herself.
- To find out how many sweets she gives away, we subtract the number of sweets she keeps from the total number of sweets:
[tex]\[
72 - 18 = 54
\][/tex]
Therefore, Lea will give 54 sweets to her friends.
