Together, Tom and Max have 72 football cards. Tom has 2 more than 4 times as many as max. How many cards does tom have?

Question

word problem

Answer 1

Hi Sara,

x = number of football cards for Max

4x + 2 = numbero f football cards for Tom

 

We know the sum of their cards is 72, so the equation is:

x + 4x + 2 = 72

5x + 2 = 72

Subtract 2 from each side of the equal sign,

5x = 70

Divide each by 5, so...

x = 14 = number of cards for Max

4 * 14 + 2 = 56 + 2 = 58 = number of cards for Tom

 

Check:

14 cards + 58 cards = 72 cards

Hope this helps,

Mary Ann

Answer 2

What do we know?

• Total number of cards = 72
• Tom has more cards than Max (2 + 4 times as many, specifically)

Let's define the number of cards that Max has as x.

 

That means that Tom has 4*x + 2 cards.

 

So, Tom's cards + Max's cards = 72, which means:

 

72 = x + (4*x + 2) or 72 = 5x + 2  (x = 14)

 

And then Tom has:

 

4*14 + 2 = 58 cards

 

 

 

Answer 3

Hello Sara,

 

First we need to indentify what the variable is, what we are solving for. We know that Tom has 4 times, plus 2, as many football cards as Max and that all their cards added together equal 72.

 

So, what we are really looking for is how many cards Max has, let's call that M.  So if we add the cards Max has (M) to the cards Tom has (4M+2) we will get 72.  So let's set that up:

 

4M+2+M=72

 

Now we solve this using algebra for the unknown:

 

5M+2=72

 

subtract 2 from both sides:

 

5M=70

 

Divide both sides by 5 to isolate the variable (M):

 

M=14

 

Now, let's enter the number 14 in place of M in the equation and see if it works.

 

4(14)+2+14=72

 

56+2+14=72

 

added all together and we see that M does equal 14.

 

Hope this helps.

BillN