Question

Can someone help me with this and show their work and how they found the answer?

In a museum there are 3 bricks. The bricks weigh 5kg in total. The heaviest brick weighs 2/3 times as much as the other 2 bricks in total. How much does the heaviest brick weigh?

Answer 1

2kg

Explanation:

Let the sum of the other 2 bricks be R. Given that the heaviest brick weighs 2/3 times as much as the other 2 bricks in total, then the weight of the heaviest brick H in terms of the weight of the other 2 will be

H = 2/3 * R

= 2R/3

Given that the 3 bricks weigh 5kg in total then,

2R/3 + R = 5

Multiply through the equation by 3

2R + 3R = 15

5R = 15

Divide both sides by 5

R = 15/5

= 3

The weight of the heaviest brick is 2R/3. Since R = 3, the heaviest block weighs

= 2 * 3/3

= 2kg