one basketball team defeated another by 13 points. The Total number of points scored by both teams was 171. Find the number of points scored by the winning team

Answer 1

Teams are A & B

Let's say A was winning team, so A = B + 13 (A = A's score; B = B's score)

We can create another equation since we know the total of both: A + B = 171

Substitute: (B +13) + B = 171 -> 2B = 158, so B's score was 79.

Then A is 79 + 13 = 92. You can see that the total is 171, so all the criteria are met.

Answer 2

Here is a way to do this if you do not yet understand algebra. You can use a guess and check method.

So you know that the total number of points is 171. Team A plus Team B = 171 You also know that the scores of the two teams are 13 points apart.

Just like the tutor did on answer 1, assume that the A team won.

So choose a number, say 100 for the A team. Subtract 100 - 13 to get 87 points for team B.

Now Add 100 + 87. The total is 187. Your target for the total points is 171. 187 is too high.

So you know that 100 points for team A is too high.

Guess another number for team A. Try 50. That means team B got 50 - 13 = 37 points. Add 50 for team A and 37 for team B. That gives you a total of 87. That is way too low.

So now you know that Team A must have scored somewhere between 50 and 100 Points. Keep guessing for Team A. Subtract 13 to get Team B's score. Then add up the two scores to try to hit 171. Keep guessing and checking until you find the number for Team A and Team B that add up to 171.