for a fundraiser, Brad sold 2 less than 3 times the number of candy bars calls that Mary did. if they sold 334 total bars, find the number sold by each

Answer 1

for a fundraiser, Brad sold 2 less than 3 times the number of candy bars that Mary did. if they sold 334 total bars, find the number sold by each

For this problem, first we need to define our variables. Let's use b for Brad and m for Mary.

To solve this problem, we need to set up a system of equations. The first equation is fairly simple. We know that together Brad and Mary sold 334 candy bars but we don't know how many each sold separately.. So the first equation is b+m=334

Secondly, we know that Brad sold 2 less than 3 times the amount that Mary did. You would write this as b=3m-2

So now you have the system of equations:

m+b=334

b=3m-2

Since one of the variables is solved for already (b=3m-2) I would use substitution by putting the second equation into the first one like this:

m+3m-2=334

From there you can solve for m. Once you have your value for m, put that number into the second equation (b-3m-2) and solve for b.

Answer 2

Let b be Brad's number of bars and m be Mary's.

b + m = 334

b = 3m-2

m = 334-b

b = 3(334-b)-2

b = 1002-3b-2

4b = 1000

b = 250

m = 334-250 = 84

Brad sold 250 candy bars.

Mary sold 84 candy bars.

Answer 3

Let m equal the number of candy bars Mary sold.

3m-2 represent the number of candy bars Brad sold.

(3m - 2) + m = 334

combine like terms: 4m - 2 = 334

add 2 to both sides: 4m = 336

divided both sides by 4: m = 84

Mary sold 84 bars.

Substitute 84 for m to find out how many bars Brad sold.

3(84) - 2 = 250 bars