|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
![]() |
||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||
Hi Hannah, I am going to change your made-up number to \$523, then if x is the number of kids and y is the number of adults the equations become 5x + 8y = 523 x + y = 71 At this point multiply both sides of the second equation by 5 so the equations become 5x + 8y = 523 5x + 5y = 355 These equations can then be rewritten 5x = 523 - 8y 5x = 355 - 5y Since both right sides are equal to 5x they must be equal and hence 523 - 8y = 355 - 5y Solve for y. This is probably not the way your textbook or teacher would present the solution. I expect they would multiply both sides of the second equation by 5 as I did to get 5x + 8y = 523 5x + 5y = 355 but the next step would be to "subtract the second equation from the first equation".
and hence subtracting the second equation from the first yields 3y = 168 Solve for y. I hope this helps, | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Math Central is supported by the University of Regina and The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences. |