Their weekly salaries total $715: $$\displaystyle \L \;a+r=715$$ Solve the system. #### Denis ##### Senior Member crappiefisher26 said: I'm stuck on this one. Salaries. Rafael earns$35 more per week then Andrew. If their weekly salaries total $715, what amount does each earn. Here is how I set it up: x - 35 = 715 ... but it's wrong. I don't want the answer, but I would appreciate advice on what I did wrong in setting it up. Thank you! Crappy, WHAT is your "x" suppose to represent? You seem to be missing the basics: have you got a teacher? #### crappiefisher26 ##### New member yeh im way confused now. if you got a+r=715 how do ya solve that? #### Mrspi ##### Senior Member crappiefisher26 said: I'm stuck on this one. Salaries. Rafael earns$35 more per week then Andrew. If their weekly salaries total $715, what amount does each earn. Here is how I set it up: x - 35 = 715 ... but it's wrong. I don't want the answer, but I would appreciate advice on what I did wrong in setting it up. Thank you! You need to specify what x represents!! Suppose x represents Rafael's salary. Now, we also need Andrew's salary, don't we? He earns$35 less per week than Rafael. If Rafael's salary is x, then Andrew's salary is x - 35

x = Rafael's salary
x - 35 = Andrew's salary

Now, we know this: together, they earn \$715 each week. So,

Rafael's salary + Andrew's salary = 715
x + (x - 35) = 715

Ok...can you solve it now?

If you have difficulty solving this equation, you definitely need to talk to your teacher about getting some extra help.