Question

The sum of two numbers is negative nine. One number is 9 more than another number. What isthe smaller number?

Answer 1

We have

`x+y=-9`

x+9=y

We susbtitute

`\begin{gathered} x+x+9=-9 \\ 2x=-9-9 \\ 2x=-18 \\ x=-9 \end{gathered}`

then we find the value of y

`\begin{gathered} y=-9+9 \\ y=0 \end{gathered}`

In this case, the smaller number is -9