Question

Roy weighs 150 pounds and plans to lose 1.5 pounds a week. Luis weighs 200 pounds and plans to lose 2.5 pounds a week. Which equation shows when Roy and Luis will weigh the same? Use w for the number of weeks.

a 150 + 1.5w = 200 + 2.5w
b 350 = -4w
c 150w - 1.5 = 200w - 2.5
d 150 - 1.5w = 200 - 2.5w

Answer 1

d 150 - 1.5w = 200 - 2.5w

Explanation:

To write an expression for this problem, we call:

`w` = number of weeks

Roy weighs 150 pounds at the beginning, and he plans to lose 1.5 pounds per week; this means that his weight after w weeks is

`R=150-1.5 w`

Luis weighs 200 pounds at the beginning, and his weight decreases by 2.5 pounds per week, so the expression for his weight after w weeks is

`L=200-2.5w`

Roy and Luis have the same weight when

`R=L`

Therefore,

`150-1.5w=200-2.5w`

Which is option D.