Gabby and Brenda both went bowling last weekend, but not together. Gabby went during open bowling time, paying $7 for shoe rental and $1 per hour. Brenda went on family night, when each hour was $3 and shoe rental was $3. As it turned out, they played for the same number of hours and spent the same amount. How many hours did each one bowl?

Question

Let x represent the number of hours and y represnt the amount spent.

2 hours

4 hours

6 hours

8 hours
Step by step, and graphing

Answer 1

Let's set up equations to represent the situations.

For Gabby:
y = 7 + x

For Brenda:
y = 3x + 3

Since we know that they spent the same amount, we can set the two equations equal to each other:

7 + x = 3x + 3

To solve for x, we can subtract x from both sides:

7 = 2x + 3

Subtract 3 from both sides:

4 = 2x

Divide both sides by 2:

2 = x

So each person bowled for 2 hours.