word problem #3

[SARAHrawr]

In Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, Tweedledum says to Tweedledee, "The sum of your weight and twice mine is 361 pounds." Then Tweedledee says to Tweedledum, "Contrariwise, the sum of your weight and twice mine is 362 pounds." Find the weight of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. This one is really hard.
well first i set up the problems:

x+2y=361
x+2y=362
are those right?

 

[Denis]

x+2y=361
x+2y=362
are those right?

No.

 

[mmm4444bot]

Sara, the two sums are different numbers: 361 and 362; clearly, they cannot both equal the value x + 2y because x + 2y represents a single number. In this exercise, it is either 361 or 362.

I cannot determine whether your choices for x and y make x + 2y equal 361 or 362 because you forgot to write down the very first step.

What did you decide each of the symbols x and y represent ?

Let x = ????

Let y = ????

Tell me what you decided for these two symbols, and I will help you correct the wrong equation(s).

Cheers ~ Mark