Megan had 36 books in her locker. Some where library books, some where tetbooks, and the rest were telephone books. The number of library books and telphone books combined equals twice the number of textbooks. The number of textbooks and telephone books combined equals three times the number of library books. How many of ezch type of book were in Megan's locker?
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- Thread starter Brunner04
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Brunner04 said:
Your first job is to name stuff.
Let x represent the number of text books.
Let L represent the number of library books.
Let t represent the number of telephone books.
Now you have to build three equations.
One equation will be made from the statement "Megan had 36 books in her locker." I'll leave that to you.
Another equation can be made from the statement "The number of library books and telphone books combined equals twice the number of textbooks." That will be --- L + t = 2x
The third equation will be made from the statement "The number of textbooks and telephone books combined equals three times the number of library books." I'll leave that to you.
Next, solve your three equations in three unknowns by any means available to you.
Finally, check your results by plugging them into the original word problem and using arithmetic to verify the truthfulness of the statements.
mmm4444bot
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Brunner04 said:
There are too many different methods to discuss.
Please tell us what you've learned so far about solving systems of equations, so that we might determine which method to discuss.
Also, show us the system of three equations that you determined.