How many pears are there?

How many pears are there, if four times the number of apples is 5 less than the number of pears? The total fruit is 32.

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p = number of pears
32 - p = number of apples {there are 32 pieces of fruit}

4(32 - p) = p - 5 {four times the number of apples is 5 less than the number of pears}
128 - 4p = p - 5 {used distributive property}
-5p = -133 {subtracted p and 128 from each side}
​p = 26.6 {divided each side by -5}
32 - p = 5.4 {substituted 26.6, in for p, into (32 - p)}

There are 26.6 pears and there are 5.4 apples.

Apparently, you typed the question wrong, or a knife is being used to cut the pears and apples!

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