Question

phil ate three less than twice as many pancakes as sara. together they combined to eat 15 pancakes. How many pancakes did each eat?

Answer 1

Let x represents the Sara eat pancake and y represents the Phil eat the pancake.

As per the statement:

Phil ate three less than twice as many pancakes as Sara.

"Twice as many pancake as Sara" means 2x

"three less than twice as many pancakes as Sara" means 2x -3

⇒
`y = 2x-3` .....[1]

It is also given that together they combined to eat 15 pancakes.

⇒
`x+y =15` .....[2]

Substitute equation [1] into [2] we get;

`x+2x-3 = 15`

Combine like terms;

3x-3 =15

Add 3 to both sides we get;

3x = 18

Divide both sides by 3 we get;

x = 6

Substitute the value of x in [1] we get;

y = 2(6)-3 = 12-3 =9

y = 9

Therefore, the pancakes did each eat are;

Sara eat pancake = 6 and Phil eat pancake = 9