Consider the phrase "The number of blue markers in a drawer is 4 more than twice the number of red markers." Write an expression for the total number of markers in the drawer using only the variable r, which will represent the number of red markers.

First, write an expression for the number of blue markers in the drawer.

3 answers

To express the number of blue markers in the drawer in terms of the variable \( r \) (which represents the number of red markers), we can use the phrase from the problem: "The number of blue markers in a drawer is 4 more than twice the number of red markers."

We can set up the expression as follows:

  1. Twice the number of red markers: This is represented as \( 2r \).
  2. 4 more than that: To gain the total for blue markers, we add 4 to \( 2r \).

Thus, the expression for the number of blue markers \( b \) in terms of \( r \) is:

\[ b = 2r + 4 \]

Now we have an expression for the number of blue markers. Would you like to continue and find the total number of markers in the drawer?

yes

To find the total number of markers in the drawer, we need to add the number of red markers to the number of blue markers.

Using the expressions we have:

  • Number of red markers: \( r \)
  • Number of blue markers: \( b = 2r + 4 \)

Now, we can write the expression for the total number of markers \( T \):

\[ T = r + b \]

Substituting the expression for blue markers into this equation, we get:

\[ T = r + (2r + 4) \]

Now, combine the terms:

\[ T = r + 2r + 4 \]

\[ T = 3r + 4 \]

Thus, the expression for the total number of markers in the drawer in terms of \( r \) is:

\[ T = 3r + 4 \]