When will Julio and Maria have saved the same amount of money?

Question

Julio has $12 in his savings at the beginning of March and plans to save $2 each week. Julio's cousin, Maria, owes her parents $4 because they loaned it to her, but she plans to save $6 each week.

Answer 1

OK, let's not overthink it! If we say w is the number of weeks, then in 7 weeks, each makes $7w, right? Let's say I started with $10. After seven weeks, I'd have $(7w + 10). We normally leave off the $ because it just gets in the way. If two things are the same, they are equal.

 

2w + 12 = 6w - 4

16 = 4w

w = 4

 

4 weeks