Question

Alicia earned d dollars baby-sitting. Her friend earned twice as much. You earned $2 less than Alicia's friend earned. Write an expression in simplest form that represents the total amount in the situation.

Answer 1

`Total = \$5d - 2`

Explanation:

Represent Alice with A, her friend with F and you with Y.

From the question, we have:

`A = \$d`

`F = 2 * A` --- Twice as much Alice means 2 times Alice's earnings

`Y = F - 2` --- 2 less than her friend

Required

Determine the total amount

`A = \$d`

Substitute
`\$d` for A in
`F = 2 * A`

`F = 2 * \$d`

`F = \$2d`

Substitute
`\$2d` for F in
`Y = F - 2`

`Y = \$2d - 2`

The total amount is calculated by adding the earnings of Alice, her friend and you

`Total = A + F + Y`

`Total = \$d + \$2d + \$2d - 2`

`Total = \$5d - 2`

Hence, the total earnings is 5d - 2