if a class is made up of 475 students and there are 175 more girls then boys how many boys are there?

Question

if a class is made up of 475 students and there are 175 more girls then boys how many boys are there?

Answer 1

Kay, the key to these is organization. I always make a tidy list of what I need or want:

Boys:     X

Girls:      X + 175

To make an equation, you add boys and girls:

Boys + Girls = 475

  X + X + 175 = 475

2X + 175 = 475

       -175   -175

   2Z         = 300

  2X/2      = 300/2

     X         = 150

Returning to our original list, we see that we have the number of boys. Substitute it into the expression for girls and you get 325 girls. You can double-check the accuracy of this by adding the answers and making sure they make 475.