Kaitlin, John, and Miguel sent a total of 79

Question

Kaitlin, John, and Miguel sent a total of 79

 text messages over their cell phones during the weekend. Miguel sent 6

 more messages than Kaitlin. John sent 3

times as many messages as Miguel. How many messages did they each send? 

Answer 1

****this is a duplicate posting***

Let :

K = # of texts from Kaitlin

J = # of texts from John

M = # of texts from Miguel

From the word problem we get the following

K + J + M = 79

M = K + 6

J = 3*M

First, you should put all variables in terms of 1 variable. Since everyone relates to M, put everyone in terms of M.

M = M

J = 3*M

K = M - 6 (we get this from M = K + 6)

Next, plug all these into the 1st equation to solve for M

K + J + M = 79

(M - 6) + (3*M) + M = 79

5*M - 6 = 79

5*M = 85

M = 17

Plug this into the other equations

J = 3*M = 3*17

J = 51

K = M - 6 = 17 - 6

K = 11

-------------------------------------------------------------

Always check your work!!

K + J + M = 79

11 + 51 + 17 = 79

79 = 79 CORRECT!

M = K + 6

17 = 11 + 6

17 = 17 CORRECT!



J = 3*M

51 = 3*17

51 = 51 CORRECT!

Answer 2

Let :

K = # of texts from Kaitlin

J = # of texts from John

M = # of texts from Miguel

From the word problem we get the following

K + J + M = 79

M = K + 6

J = 3*M

First, you should put all variables in terms of 1 variable. Since everyone relates to M, put everyone in terms of M.

M = M

J = 3*M

K = M - 6 (we get this from M = K + 6)

Next, plug all these into the 1st equation to solve for M

K + J + M = 79

(M - 6) + (3*M) + M = 79

5*M - 6 = 79

5*M = 85

M = 17

Plug this into the other equations

J = 3*M = 3*17

J = 51

K = M - 6 = 17 - 6

K = 11

-------------------------------------------------------------

Always check your work!!

K + J + M = 79

11 + 51 + 17 = 79

79 = 79 CORRECT!

M = K + 6

17 = 11 + 6

17 = 17 CORRECT!

J = 3*M

51 = 3*17

51 = 51 CORRECT!