Question

Example 49; Jillian saved x dollars so that she could buy her mom a birthday present. Unfortunately, she hadto spend a third of it on lunch, but then she lent $5 to her brother. If she now has $16, how much money didshe begin with?07=750 = 16

Answer 1

Let x be the amount Jillian had saved. She spend a third of it on lunch. So, the remaining amount would e

`x\text{ -}(x)/(3)=(2x)/(3)`

then she lent 5 to her brother. So, this means that we should subtract 5 from this amount. This leads to

`(2x)/(3)\text{ -5}`

we are told that this amount is 16. So we get the equation

`(2x)/(3)\text{ -5=16}`

we start by adding 5 on both sides, so we have

`(2x)/(3)=16+5=21`

now, we multiply both sides by 3, so we get

`2x=21\cdot3=63`

now we divide both sides by 2, so we get

`x=(63)/(2)=31.5`

so Jillian started with 31.5