markr wrote:Separate 173 chips from the rest, and turn them all over.

i should have said ur not allowed to answer
right now there is one pile that contains 173 red chips and 262 (435-173) white chips
count out any 173 chips. that pile will contain r red chips and w white chips,
leaving 173-r red chips and 262-w white chips in the old pile
turn over all 173 new chips and u will have w red chips and r white chips, but r+w = 173, so w=173-r, so u have
173-r red chips in the new pile