Last Friday, students at Frost Elementary could choose between hot dogs and hamburgers. There were 45 more students who bought hamburgers than hot dogs. If 78 students bought hot dogs, how many students bought lunch in all?

Question

students

Answer 1

Let's denote the number of students who bought hot dogs as \( H \) and the number of students who bought hamburgers as \( B \).

From the information given:

1. \( H = 78 \) (the number of students who bought hot dogs).
2. There were 45 more students who bought hamburgers than hot dogs, which we can express mathematically as: \[ B = H + 45 \]

Substituting the value of \( H \): \[ B = 78 + 45 \] \[ B = 123 \]

Now, we can find the total number of students who bought lunch by adding the number of students who bought hot dogs and hamburgers: \[ \text{Total students} = H + B = 78 + 123 \] \[ \text{Total students} = 201 \]

Therefore, the total number of students who bought lunch is \( \boxed{201} \).