Question

Maya and Sally were the two finalists in a singing competition. The person with the most votes from the audience was chosen as the winner. Sally received 25% of the total votes and lost by 62,500 votes. No person in the audience was allowed to vote more than once. The equation below represents this situation, where y is the total number of votes cast and x is the number of votes Maya received:

x − 62,500 = 0.25y

If a total of 125,000 people voted, how many votes did Maya receive?

Answer 1

Votes received by Maya = 93750.

Explanation:

Equation which represents the relation between total number of votes cast (y) and number of votes (x) Maya received is

x - 62500 = 0.25y

If the total number of people voted (y) = 125000

Then we have to calculate the votes received by Maya

x - 62500 = 0.25(125000)

x = 62500 + 0.25(125000)

x = 62500 + 31250

x = 93750 votes

Therefore, votes received by Maya are 93750.

Answer 2

Substitute the value of y which is 125,000 in the equation x - 62,500 = 0.25y. The product of 0.25 and 125,000 is 31,250. Transpose 62,500 to the other side of the equation. Add 62,500 to 31,250. The number of votes Maya received which x represent is 93570,