Final answer:
The total number of tickets sold was 516, with student tickets being three times that of adult tickets. By setting the number of adult tickets as x, we utilize the equation x + 3x = 516 to find that there were 129 adult tickets sold and hence, 387 student tickets sold.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject question pertains to determining the number of adult and student tickets sold given the total number sold and a ratio between the two types. As there were a total of 516 tickets sold, and the number of student tickets was three times the number of adult tickets, we denote the number of adult tickets as x, which makes the number of student tickets 3x. We can create the equation x + 3x = 516 to represent the total number of tickets. Solving for x, we get:
4x = 516
x = 516 / 4
x = 129
Therefore, the number of adult tickets sold was 129, and the number of student tickets was 3 × 129 = 387.