Question

Nilda owes $250 to a friend but has been earning $25 per week to catch up and start saving. Karla has saved $200 and has been saving an extra $5 per week to slowly build her savings. How many weeks will it take before the amount in each savings account is the same?

Answer 1

22 and a half weeks

Explanation:

We are told that Nilda owes $250 and has been earning $25 per week to catch up and start saving.

Also, Karla has saved $200 and has been saving an extra $5 per week to slowly build her savings.

Let the number of weeks they save for be represented as x.

Therefore, for them to have the same amount of money after x weeks,

25x - 250 = 200 + 5x

The left hand side represents Nilda's situation (250 is being deducted because she owes $250) while the right hand side represents Karla's situation (the 200 is added because she already owns $200).

Solving for x:

25x - 250 = 200 + 5x

Collecting like terms:

25x - 5x = 250 + 200

20x = 450

x = 450 / 20 = 22.5 weeks

Hence, they would both need to save for 22 and a half weeks to have the same amount of money.