Bill has 3 times as many stamps as Sam. The average number of stamps they have is 450. How many moe stamps does Bill have than Sam?

Question

4th grade problem

 

Answer 1

Bill has 3 times as many as Sam does.

 

i.e. if Sam has 1, Billy has 3, Total is 4, Billy has 2 extra

Billy has 2/4 = 1/2 of total number of stamps extra.

 

Avg number of stamps = 450 , So total number of stamps = 450 *2 = 900

 

Extra stamp count = 900 * 1/2 = 450.

 

Answer 2

What so we know?   Bill has three times as many stamps as Sam, and the average is 450 stamps.

 

Since there are only two people in the equation,  that means there are 900 stamps total. (450×2=900)

 

Let's put this new information into an equation :

 

3x + x =900

4x = 900

 

Divide:

 

4x/4 =900/4

x= 225

 

So, Sam has 225 stamps.

 

Bill has 3× 225 or 675 stamps.