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37 people showed up to the party. There were 5 less men than women present. How many men were there?

User Elezar
by
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1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

16

Explanation:

Assuming binary attendees, the sum of men and women is 37; the difference of women and men is 5. The number of men is ...

(37 -5)/2 = 16

16 men were there.

_____

Additional comment

21 women were there, for a total of 16+21 = 37.

This form of problem is what I call a "sum and difference" problem. The solution is always the same. For positive values of sum and difference, the smaller of the two numbers is half the difference of the given values, as we showed above.

w +m = s . . . . sum

w -m = d . . . . difference

(w +m) -(w -m) = s - d . . . . . the difference of the two equations

2m = s -d . . . . . . . . . . . . simplified

m = (s -d)/2 . . . . . . . . the formula described above

User Preetham
by
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