Question

Two machines at a factory are filling cans of soup. One machine has already filled 180 cans of soup, and fills cans at a rate of 15 per minute. The second machine has already filled 210 cans of soup, and fills cans at a rate of 12 per minute. Write an equation to show when the two machines will have filled the same number of cans of soup. Use x
𝑥
as your variable.

Answer 1

Let x = minutes from now. The equation is

180 + 15x = 210 + 12x.

Solving: 180 + 15x = 210 + 12x → 3x = 30 → x = 10 minutes (they will each have 330 cans).