Question

According to the 2000 Census the population of Canton was 7,720. Holly Spring's population was 3,200. Canton's population increases at a rate of 80 people a year and Holly Spring's population increases by 120 people a year. Which equation may be used to determine the number of years before the populations are equal?

Answer 1

To determine the number of years before the populations of Canton and Holly Springs are equal, set up the equation '7720 + 80x = 3200 + 120x' and solve for x. It would take approximately 18.33 years for the populations to be equal.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the number of years before the populations of Canton and Holly Springs are equal, we need to set up an equation using the information given. Let x represent the number of years. The equation for Canton's population would be 7720 + 80x, and the equation for Holly Spring's population would be 3200 + 120x. We can set these two equations equal to each other: 7720 + 80x = 3200 + 120x. Solving for x, we find that it would take approximately 18.33 years for the populations of Canton and Holly Springs to be equal.

Answer 2

Canton: 7,720 and increases at a rate of 80 people per year.
Holly Spring: 3,200 and increases at rate of 120 people per year.

Let x be the number of years.

Canton = 7,720 + 80x
Holly Spring = 3,200 + 120x

7,720 + 80x = 3,200 + 120x
80x - 120x = 3,200 - 7720
-40x = -4520
x = -4520 / -40
x = 113

It would take 113 years before the populations are equal.

7,720 + 80x = 3,200 + 120x
7,720 + 80(113) = 3,200 + 120(113)
7,720 + 9,040 = 3,200 + 13,560
16,760 = 16,760