Mike has 8 less airplanes than 3 times the size of nathan's collection

Answer 1

M= 3N-8

N>2 for M>0

N>3 and M>1

Usually this type of problem has a 2nd piece of information so you can solve for M and N,

such as total airplanes in both collections = some number, call it P

then M+N= P

M-3N =-8

subtract to get

4N = P+8

N = P/4 + 2

M = P-N