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33 votes
33 votes
Write an equation and solve

Joseph spent half the money in his wallet on a video game before earning $10 mowing the lawn. If Joseph’s wallet now has $31, how much was in his wallet before he bought the game?

User Geoff Kendall
by
3.0k points

2 Answers

12 votes
12 votes

Final answer:

Joseph had $42 in his wallet before he bought the game.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve this problem, we can set up an equation:

Let x be the initial amount of money in Joseph's wallet.

Joseph spent half the money, so he has x/2 remaining.

After earning $10, Joseph's wallet has a total of x/2 + $10 = $31.

Let's solve for x:

x/2 + $10 = $31

x/2 = $21

To solve for x, we multiply both sides of the equation by 2:

x = $42

Therefore, Joseph had $42 in his wallet before he bought the game.

User Maccruiskeen
by
3.0k points
9 votes
9 votes

$42 dollars was in his wallet.

Equation: total = 0.5x + 10

Plug in values...

31 = 0.5x + 10

21 = 0.5x

x = 42

User Kavun
by
2.9k points