Question

A problem states: " there are 3 more baseballs than bats in a dugout. There are 15 bats and baseballs in the dugout in all. How many bats are in the dugout?" Let b represent the number of bats. Which expression represents the situation?

Answer 1

9 baseballs and 6 bats

Answer 2

The required equation is 2b+3=15.

Number of bats = 6

Number of baseballs = 9

Explanation:

Let b be the number of bats.

It is given that there are 3 more baseballs than bats in a dugout.

Number of baseballs = b + 3

Number of bats and baseballs in the dugout in all is

`Total=b+(b+3)`

`Total=(b+b)+3`

`Total=2b+3`

There are 15 bats and baseballs in the dugout in all.

`2b+3=15`

The required equation is 2b+3=15.

Subtract 3 from both sides.

`2b=15-3`

`2b=12`

Divide both sides by 2.

`b=6`

The value of b is 6. So, the number of bats is 6 and number of baseballs is 6+3=9.