Question

Today Zack sold twice as many bags of popcorn at the ball game as he sold last Saturday. In the 2 days he sold a total of 96 bags. Write a system of equations to determine s, the number of bags Zack sold last Saturday, and t, the number of bags he sold today?

Answer 1

`s=32\\t=64`

Zack sold 32 bags of popcorn last Saturday, and 64 bags of popcorn today.

Explanation:

Start by determining what information the question gives us, and what we need to find.

Given:

Zack sold twice as many bags of popcorn as he sold last Saturday

He sold 96 bags altogether in the 2 days

Find:

s, number of bags he sold last Saturday

t, number of bags he sold today

Equation/System of Equations:

`t=2s` (OR "number of bags he sold today = number of bags he sold last Saturday multiplied by 2, or twice the amount he sold last Saturday)

`t+s=96` (OR "number of bags he sold today + number of bags he sold last Saturday is equivalent to the amount of bag he sold altogether which is 96 bags as given by the question)

Solve:

We can solve this system of equations using substitution. In this case, we can substitute "2s" for "t" into the second equation giving us...

`2s+s=96\\3s=96`

Divide both sides by 3. Notice that the Division Property of Equality states that if you divide on side of the equation by something, you must divide the other side by the same quantity.

`s=(96)/(3)\\s=32`

Substitute 32 in for "s" to solve for "t"...

`t=2s\\t=2(32)\\t=64`

Answer:

Zack sold 32 bags of popcorn last Saturday, and 64 bags of popcorn today.