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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Question from Anh, a student: The Texas State Legislature is comprised of state senators and state representatives. The sum of the number of senators and representatives is 181. There are 119 more representatives than senators. How many senators and how many representatives make up the Texas Legislature? |
Hi Anh,
Suppose that $S$ is the number of senators and $R$ is the number of representatives. The second sentence in your problem is.
The sum of the number of senators and representatives is 181.
Said in terms of $S$ and $R$ this is the equation $S + R = 181.$
The third sentence in your problem is.
There are 119 more representatives than senators.
Write this sentence as an equation. Solve the two equations for $S$ and $R.$
Penny
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