“Together Leroy and Rusty have 4 pets. If the number of pets Leroy has is subtracted from three times the number of pets Rusty has, the difference is 8. How many pets does each boy have?

Answer 1

Let L=Leroy and R=Rusty

L+R=4 because together they have 4 pets

3 times Rusty is 3R

minus Leroy's pets

3R-L=8

Our two equations are:

L+R=4

3R-L=8

Rearrange the second

-L+3R=8

L+R=4

Do elimination

4R=12

R=3

L+R=4

L+3=4

So L=1

Rusty has 3 and Leroy has 1