Larry C. answered • 03/05/18
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When solving a problem like this one, it usually breaks down to 2 equations, each involving 2 variables. If you solve one equation to define one of the variables in terms of the other, you can then plug that value into the second equation. So, in this case, if we let p represent the students taking pottery and m those taking music:
p + m = 48 => p = 48 - m
p - 20 = m => 48 - m - 20 = m => 28 = 2m => 14 = m and thus p = 48 - 14 = 34
So 34 take pottery and 14 take music,
Larry C.
By the first sentence, we know there are 48 students in total. So, by letting p represent the pottery students and m the music students, we can write the first sentence mathematically as
p+m=48
By subtracting m from both sides of that equation, we now have p in terms of m
p=48-m
By the 2nd sentence, we know there are 20 more pottery students than music students or
p=m+20
If we now replace the p in the 2nd equation with equivalent value in terms of m we previously determined
48-m=m+20
Add m to both sides
48=2m+20
Subtract 20 from both sides
28=2m
Divide both sides by 2
14=m
Since we know there are 20 more pottery students than music
p=14+20=34
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03/05/18
Felicia D.
03/05/18