Final answer:
Cooper and Bradley will have the same number of baseball cards after 3 months. We find this by setting up equations for both, based on their starting numbers and monthly increments, and solving for the month where they equal.
Step-by-step explanation:
Finding When Cooper and Bradley Will Have the Same Number of Baseball Cards
To determine when Cooper and Bradley will have the same number of baseball cards, we can set up a linear equation where the number of cards each has increases at a steady rate each month. We will let x represent the number of months after their current collections. For Cooper, who starts with 27 cards and gets 11 each month, the equation will be:
27 + 11x
For Bradley, who starts with 42 cards and gets 6 each month, the equation will be:
42 + 6x
We set these two equations equal to each other since we are looking for the point where they have the same number of cards:
27 + 11x = 42 + 6x
Then we solve for x:
Subtract 6x from both sides: 11x - 6x = 42 - 27
This simplifies to: 5x = 15
Finally, divide by 5: x = 3
So, after 3 months, Cooper and Bradley will have the same number of baseball cards.