Final answer:
To find the number of minutes Shonda skateboarded on Monday, assign a variable x to represent Monday's minutes, write an equation accounting for double the minutes on Tuesday, and solve for x using the sum of minutes for Monday and Tuesday.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many minutes Shonda skateboarded on Monday, let's assign a variable for the number of minutes she skateboarded. Let's say Shonda skateboarded for x minutes on Monday. On Tuesday, she skateboarded for 2x minutes, which is twice as many minutes as on Monday. On Wednesday, she skateboarded for 4.5x minutes (which is 4 1/2 times as many minutes as Monday).
If we know the sum of the minutes for Monday and Tuesday, we can write an equation: x + 2x = total minutes. That simplifies to 3x = total minutes. Once you know the total number of minutes for both Monday and Tuesday, you can divide that number by 3 to find x, which represents the number of minutes she skateboarded on Monday.
For example, if the sum of the minutes for Monday and Tuesday is 90 minutes, we would set up the equation: 3x = 90. To find x, we divide both sides by 3 giving us x = 30 minutes. Therefore, Shonda skateboarded for 30 minutes on Monday.