Question

A group of college students are going to a lake house for the weekend and plan on renting small cars and large cars to make the trip. Each small car can hold 5 people and each large car can hold 8 people. A total of 5 cars were rented which can hold 34 people altogether. Determine the number of small cars rented and the number of large cars rented.

Answer 1

2 small; 3 large

Explanation:

Using s and L for the number of small and large cars, respectively, we have ...

5s +8L = 34 . . . . number of passengers

s + L = 5 . . . . . . . number of cars

5s +8(5 -s) = 34 . . . . substitute for L

-3s +40 = 34

-3s = -6 . . . . . . subtract 40

s = 2 . . . . . . . . divide by -2

L = 5-2 = 3

2 small cars and 3 large cars were rented.