Question

Two runners are saving money to attend a marathon. The first runner has $112 in savings, received a $45 gift from a friend, and will save $25 each month. The second runner has $50 in savings and will save $60 each month. Which equation can be used to find m, the number of months it will take for both accounts to have the same amount of money?

Answer 1

Answer: it would take 3.1 months

Explanation:

Let m represent the number of months that that it will take either of the runners to have the same amount of money in their accounts.

Let y represent the total amount that runner 1 saves for m months

Let z represent the total amount that runner 2 saves for m months

The first runner has $112 in savings, received a $45 gift from a friend, and will save $25 each month. This means that the total amount that he will save for m months would be

y = 112 + 45 + 25m

y = 157 + 25m

The second runner has $50 in savings and will save $60 each month. This means that the total amount that he will save for m months would be

z = 50 + 60m

To determine the number of months before the amount in the account of both runners becomes the same, we would equate y to z. It becomes

157 + 25m = 50 + 60m

157 - 50 = 60m - 25m

35m = 107

m = 107/35

m = 3.06