question about linear equations. (question in description... was too long)

Question

michaela and aleah play on the same basket ball team. in one game michaela scored on fifth of the team's points. together they scored a total of 42 points. how many pints did the team score?

Answer 1

Hi Anika,

 

You are missing a piece of information necessary to do the problem. I know that if N is the total number of points scored by the team, then Michaela scored N/5. I also know that if you add her score to Aleah's score, you get 42.

 

So, I can write

Michaela + Aleah = 42

 

or N/5 + Aleah = 42

 

Anyway you cut it, I have one equation and two variables. Is there any other information?