debbie saved d dollars last month. this month she saved $8 more than 3 times the amount sh

Question

debbie saved d dollars last month. this month she saved $8 more than 3 times the amount she saved last month. She saved a total of $141. Find how much she saved last month

Answer 1

Colleen, don't let letters in math scare you. They are just placeholders. Sometimes we assign them a value and ask you to solve an equation. This is giving us an equation and asking us to solve for d.

 

Last month, she saved $d. 3 times d is written as 3d, and 8 more than 3d is 3d + 8.

 

d + 3d + 8 = 141

4d + 8 = 141

4d + 8 - 8 = 141 - 8

4d = 133

4d/4 = 133/4

d = 33.25

 

Last month, she saved $33.25.

 

Although the problem doesn't ask for it, this month she saved 3(33.25) + 8 = 107.75.