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Lena, Alan, and Bill sent a total of 104 text messages over their cell phones during the weekend. Lena sent 8 fewer messages than Alan. Bill sent 2 times as many messages as Lena. How many messages did they each send?

1 Answer

5 votes

So, Lena sent 24 messages, Alan sent 32 messages, and Bill sent 48 messages.

Let's denote the number of messages Lena, Alan, and Bill sent as L, A, and B, respectively. We are given the following information:

L + A + B = 104 (Total messages)

L = A - 8 (Lena sent 8 fewer messages than Alan)

B = 2L (Bill sent 2 times as many messages as Lena)

Now, we'll use the second equation to express A in terms of L:

A = L + 8

Next, substitute the expressions for A and B from equations 2 and 3 into equation 1:

L + (L + 8) + 2L = 104

Combine like terms:

4L + 8 = 104

Subtract 8 from both sides:

4L = 96

Divide by 4:

L = 24

Now that we have the number of messages Lena sent, we can find the number of messages Alan and Bill sent:

A = L + 8 = 24 + 8 = 32

B = 2L = 2 * 24 = 48

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