word problem

Question

together steve and tom sold 126 raffle tickets for their school. Steve sold 4 more than three times as many raffle tickets as tom. How many raffle tickets did each boy sell?

Answer 1

s = tickets steve sold

t = tickets tom sold

 

 

Write a system of equations to model this situation:

 

s + t = 126        (together, they sold 126 tickets)

s = 3t + 4        (3 times Tom's tickets plus 4 is Steve's total)

 

 

Plug the second equation into the first and solve for t:

 

s + t = 126

3t + 4 + t = 126

4t + 4 = 126

4t = 122

t = 30.5

 

 

Now, plug t = 30.5 back into the second equation and solve for s:

 

s = 3t + 4

s = 3(30.5) + 4

s = 91.5 + 4

s = 95.5

 

 

So, Steve sold s = 95.5 tickets and Tom sold t = 30.5 tickets.

 

It seems unlikely that they sold half-tickets... You may want to check your numbers.