Ky has 3 times more books than grant and grant has 6 fewer books than jaime if the total combined number of books is 176 how many books does jaime have

Number of books each of them have:

Jaime: x
Grant: x - 6
Ky: 3 (x - 6)

There are 176 books in total, so we can write it down as:

176 = x + x - 6 + 3 (x - 6)
176 = x + x - 6 + 3 * x + 3 * (-6)
176 = x + x - 6 + 3x - 18
176 = 2x - 6 + 3x - 18
176 = 5x - 24                        / + 24 (both sides)
5x = 200                              / ÷ 5 (both sides)
x = 40

Doublecheck:

Jamie: 40
Grant: 40 - 6 = 34
Ky: 3 (40 - 6) = 3 * 34 = 102

102 + 34 + 40 = 176, so it's correct :)