Monday = X
Tuesday = X + 3 (Problem says three more hours than he worked on Monday)
Wednesday = 2x + 1
(Problem says he worked 1 hour more than two times the number of hours on monday)
This side of the equation would be -
X + (X +3) + (2X + 1)
That's monday plus tuesday plus wednesday.
Then you would set up the other side of the equation.
This would be the total number of hours so it would be equal to monday, tuesday and wednesday combined.
2 + (5x)
Two hours more than five times the amount of Monday (X)
Now we put this together to have an equation
X + (X + 3) + (2x+ 1) = 2 + 5x
Now we need to collect like terms
4x + 4 = 2 + 5x
I just simplified the left side of the equation
Now I will subtract 4x from the left side to get all the variables on one side
4 = 2 + x
Now I subtract 2 to get the numbers both on one side
2 = x
So, Colby worked 2 hours on Monday.