Hi Bryson,

The numbers didn't come through in your question so I am going to supply my own.

Yolanda, Brian, and Charlie have a total of $\$27$ in their wallets. Brian has $\$2$ less than
Yolanda. Charlie has $3$ times what Brian has. How much do they have in their wallets?

Suppose Yolanda has $Y$ dollars, Brian has $B$ dollars, and Charlie has $C$ dollars. Now put the fact you know into equation form.

Yolanda, Brian, and Charlie have a total of $\$27$ in their wallets.

\[Y + B + C = 27. \mbox{ Equation 1}\]

Brian has $\$2$ less than Yolanda.

\[B = Y - 2. \mbox{ Equation 2}\]

Charlie has $3$ times what Brian has.

\[ C = 3 \times B. \mbox{ Equation 3}\]

Equation 1 has three variables, $Y, B$ and $C$ and I would like to transform it into an equation with one variable. Equation 2 says $B = Y - 2$ or $Y = B + 2$ and hence if I substitute $Y = B + 2$ into equation 1 I will have converted equation 1 to an equation with two variables. $B$ and $C$.

Equation 3 says $C = 3 \times B$ and now if I substitute $C = 3 \times B$ into the converted equation 1 I will have an equation with only one variable, $B.$ Solve this equation for $B.$

Penny