Question

Tom was saving $3000 for a trip. He initially deposited $200 in a savings account and then deposited a fixed amount every month in the account for the next 5 months. Then he received a check in the mail. The check was three times as much as the total amount he had saved so far. When he deposited the check in his savings account, he had $200 more than he needed. What was the fixed amount he deposited in the savings account during the 5 months?

Answer 1

The answer is $120. To determine this, you will represent the situation as an equation:

4(200 + 5x) = 3200. I came up with this because it says he started with 200 and added a fixed amount every month for 5 months (5x). If the check was 3 times the amount he already had saved, then he has 4 times what he started with.

His goal was $3000, but he has $200 more than that, so $3200 would be the amount he has.

I have attached the work showing how to solve for x, the amount he depositors each month.