How many students on the bicycles?

Question

Mrs. Garcia watches 16 students cycle home after school. She counts 36 wheels. Some of the students are on bicycles, and the rest are on tricycles. How many students are on bicycles?

Answer 1

Hi Dylana, solve this problem by creating a system of equations.

 

Let B represent the bicycles and T represent the tricycles.

 

Equation 1, number of students:

 

B  +  T  = 16

 

Equation 2, number of wheels:

 

Bicycles have two wheels and tricycles have three wheels each.

 

2B + 3T = 36

 

Solve:

 

   B    +    T    =   16

 2B    +   3T   =   36

-----------------------

 

Solve by elimination. I would suggest eliminating the B terms.

 

Questions?