Question

The president of a certain university receives a salary that is three times the salary of one of the department heads. The total of the two salaries is $240,000

Answer 1

Salary of President = $180,000

Salary of Dept. Head = $60,000

Explanation:

The question is to find the salary of president and department head.

We let the salary of one of department heads be "x"

Since, the salary of president is THREE (3) TIMES a department head, we can say:

Salary of President = 3x

Now, we know the total of these 2 salaries is 240,000. Thus, we can write:

Salary of President + Salary of Dept. Head = 240,000

3x + x = 240,000

Now, we can solve for x:

`3x + x = 240,000\\4x=240,000\\x=60,000`

And now the president is "3x", so his salary is:

3(60,000) = 180,000

Thus,

President's salary = 180,000

Dept head's salary = 60,000