Question

Sam and Kim picked 33 strawberries together.
Kim picked 9 more strawberries than Sam.
How many strawberries did Kim pick?

Answer 1

Let the number of strawberries that Sam picked be denoted as \( S \). According to the problem, Kim picked 9 more strawberries than Sam, so we can express the number of strawberries Kim picked as:

\[
K = S + 9
\]

The total number of strawberries picked by both Sam and Kim is given as 33:

\[
S + K = 33
\]

Substituting the expression for \( K \) into the equation gives:

\[
S + (S + 9) = 33
\]

Simplifying this equation:

\[
2S + 9 = 33
\]

Subtracting 9 from both sides:

\[
2S = 24
\]

Dividing both sides by 2:

\[
S = 12
\]

Now that we have found the number of strawberries Sam picked, we can find the number of strawberries Kim picked using the earlier expression for \( K \):

\[
K = S + 9 = 12 + 9 = 21
\]

Thus, the number of strawberries that Kim picked is:

\[
\boxed{21}
\]