The measure of the supplement of an angle is 40 degrees less than 3 times the measure of the angle. Find both angles. Separate angle measures with a comma: smaller angle, larger angle

Answer 1

Let's say we have an angle x. The supplement of x we'll call s. Since s is the supplement of x, by definition x + s = 180.

We also know that s is 40 less than 3 times x, or s = 3x-40. So we have our two equations.

x + s = 180

s = 3x - 40

I'm going to substitute 3x-40 for s in the first equation and see where that takes me:

x + 3x - 40 = 180

4x = 220

x = 55

This also means that s (the supplement), which is whatever must be added to x to make it 180, is 125.