Question

Exercise #4: Kirk has 12 dollars less than Jim. If Jim spends half of his money, and Kirk spends none, then

Kirk will have two dollars more than Jim. How much money did they both start with? Remember to use "Let’s" statements to solve your equation.

Answer 1

Answer: Jim had $28 , Kirk had $16

Explanation:

Let's represent the amount of money they had initially as k and j respectively.

From the first statement, Kirk has 12 dollars less than Jim. Mathematically, this could be expressed as :

K + 12 = J or K = J - 12

From the second sentence, we can deduce the following : If Jim's initial amount is halved, Kirk would be 2 dollars richer. This could he expressed mathematically as ;

J/2 = K - 2

NOW , let's solve both equations simultaneously.

K = J - 12 ..........(i)

J/2 = K - 2 ........(ii)

Let's substitute for k in equation ii using equation I

J/2 = J - 12 - 2

J/2 = J - 14

J = 2J - 28

Rearranging yields

2J - J = 28

J = 28

Since K = J - 12, that means k = 28 - 12 = 16

Hence initially, Jim had $28 while Kirk had $16