Question

In some? country's Congress, the number of Representatives is 20 less than five times the number of Senators. There are a total of 520 members. Find the number of Senators and the number of Representatives.

Answer 1

• Senators: 90
• Representatives: 430

Explanation:

Let s represent the number of Senators in the Congress. Then the number of Representatives is (5s-20) and the total number of members is ...

s + (5s -20) = 520

6s = 540 . . . . . . . . . add 20, simplify

s = 90 . . . . . . . . . . . divide by 6

The number of Senators is 90; the number of Representatives is 430.

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You can find the number of Representatives either as 520 -90 = 430 or as 5·90 -20 = 430.