Mary and Jim collect baseball cards. Mary has 5 more than 3 times as many cards as Jim. The total number of cards they both have is 253. How many cards does Mary have?

Answer 1

m = 3j + 5

j + 3j + 5 = 253

4j = 248

j = 62

m = 3(62) + 5 or 253 - j

m = 186 + 5 or 253 - 62

m = 191