ulian and Ben collect comic books. Julian has 12 more than Ben has, and together they want to triple their collection for a total of 66 comic books. Which equa

Question

 julian and Ben collect comic books. Julian has 12 more than Ben has, and together they want to triple their collection for a total of 66 comic books.

Which equation can be used to find the number of comic books Ben owns, b?

Answer 1

Hi Andrea,

 

Let's begin by representing Julian's # of comic books in terms of Ben's # of comic books:

    j = b + 12  [12 more comic books than Ben]

 

Next, let's write an equation to express the tripling of their combined collection of comic books:

    3(j + b) = 66  [our equation]

 

Finally, let's replace Julian's # (j) in terms of Ben's # (b) in our equation:

    J = b + 12           [12 more than Ben]

    3(j + b) = 66       [our equation]

    3(b +12 + b)       [j replaced in terms of  b]

    3(2b + 12) = 66  [our equation to solve for b]

 

The key here was being able to express one unknown in terms of the other.

 

Thanks for submitting this problem and glad to help.

 

God bless, Jordan. 

Answer 2

Andrea, I didn't see a list of equations but here's a stab at what you should be looking for. Hope this helps!

b: # of comic books Ben has

b + 12: # of comic books Julian has

 

3[b + (b + 12)] = 66

3[2b + 12] = 66

6b + 36 = 66

6b = 30

b = 5