Four times as many girls as boys participate in chorus. If there area total of 140 girls and boys, how many girls are in the chorus?

Answer 1

This problem involves substitution to find the amount of girls in the chorus.

I will label girls as "g" and boys as "b."

Set up the initial equation: g + b = 140 (total)

We are told there are four times as many girls than boys.

This can be written as: g = 4*b . This can then be substituted in for g that was in the first equation:

g + b = 140 --> 4*b + b = 140

Solve the equation:

5*b = 140 **Remember you can add 'like terms' (4b + b = 5b)

b = 28 **Divide each side by 5

28 is the amount of boys in the chorus.

You need to find the number of girls in the chorus.

Set up the previous equation to find the number of girls:

4*b = g **Remember that we found the number of boys in the chorus was 28

Substitute 28 in for "b":

4*b = g

4*28 = g

112 = g **This the number of girls in the chorus (Answer: 112 girls)

You can check your work: 28 boys + 112 girls = 140 boys and girls in the chorus