Question

The area of Desert A is nine times the area of Desert B. If the sum of their areas is 2,000,000 square miles, find the area of each desert.

Answer 1

a=9b

a+b=2000000, using a from above we have:

9b+b=2000000 combine like terms on left side

10b=2000000 divide both sides by 10

b=200000, since a=9b

a=1800000

A=1,800,000 mi^2 and B=200,000 mi^2