Question

The sum of two numbers is 56. The difference of the 2 numbers is 16. What is the product of the two numbers?

A. 720
B. 735
C. 748
D. 759

Answer 1

So if you let x and y be the two numbers...

the sum of the two means you add them together... so you get:

x+y=56: the difference means you subtract them.. so

x-y = 16

now you have two equations and two unknowns... which you can solve with various methods... you can use elimination, substitution, or trial and error.

x+y=56

x-y = 16

I will use the elimination method: Because there is a plus y and a negative you cancel that out and add the 2x's. Therefore:

2x=72

x=36

Now, you can plug 36 into one of your original equations:

36+y=56

y=20

Those are your two numbers!