The sum of two numbers is three times the difference of the two numbers. The greater number is five more than the lesser number. Can someone help me

Answer 1

You can set this up as a system of equations. Let x be the smaller number and y be the greater number. The "difference" here is ambiguous (is it x-y or y-x)? So i will assume y - x since that's positive. Then, we have:

x + y = 3(y - x)

y = x + 5

Substituting the second equation into the first, we have:

x + x + 5 = 3(x + 5 - x)

2x + 5 = 15

x = 5

y = x + 5 = 10

Therefore, the smaller number is 5 and the larger number is 10.

Answer 2

x+y=3(x-y)

x=y+5

y+5+y=3(y+5-y)

2y+5=15

2y=10

y=5

x=10