Question

if Maria collected R rocks and Javy collected twice as many rocks as Maria and Pablo collected 5 less than Javy. What is the sum of rocks collected by Pablo and Maria?

Answer 1

This problem deals with the numbers expressed in a more general way: letters or variables

That belongs to Algebra

We know Maria collected R rocks. Let's put this in a separate line:

M = R

Where M is meant to be the number of rocks collected by Maria

Now we also know Javy collected twice as many rocks as Maria did. Thus, if J is that variable, we know that

J = 2R

Pablo collected 5 less rocks than Javy. This is expressed as

P = J - 5

or equivalently:

P = 2R - 5

since J = 2R, as we already stated

We are now required to calculate the sum of rocks collected by Pablo and Maria.

This is done by adding P + M:

P + M = (2R - 5) + (R)

We have used parentheses to indicate we are replacing variables for their equivalent expressions

Now, simplify the expression:

P + M = 2R - 5 + R

We collect the same letters by adding their coefficients:

P + M = 3R - 5

Answer: Pablo and Maria collected 3R - 5 rocks together