Question

kylie answered my question but did not go into detail how to solve the problem. Here's the problem I need help with. Given two numbers whose sum is 56. Six times the larger is 72 more than 5 times the smaller. Find the numbers. I need to know step by step how to solve this problem. My test is on Monday and there will be similar problems. Thanks.

Answer 1

just take the facts and put them into symbols. You have two numbers, x and y.

x+y = 56
If x is larger,
6x = 5y+72

So, since y = 56-x,

6x = 5(56-x) + 72
6x = 280 - 5x + 72
11x = 352
x = 32
so, y = 56-x = 24