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Amina thinks of a number and subtracts 5/2 from it. she multiplies the result by 8. the result now obtained is 3 times another number she thought of.what is the number?

User CokePokes
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1 Answer

12 votes
12 votes

Answer:

The way the problem is written: y = 8x/3 - 20/3

If the two numbers are the same: the number is 4.

Explanation:

She thought of 2 numbers.

The first number is x.

The second number is y.

8(x - 5/2) = 3y

We have one equation with two variables, so we do not have enough information to find the two numbers.

We can just express one number in terms of the other number.

8x - 20 = 3y

3y = 8x - 20

y = 8x/3 - 20/3

If the problem were:

"Amina thinks of a number and subtracts 5/2 from it. She multiplies the result by 8. The result now obtained is 3 times the same number she thought of. What is the number?",

then there is only one variable, and we can find the number.

8(x - 5/2) = 3x

8x - 20 = 3x

5x = 20

x = 4

The number is 4.

User Bhupendra Shukla
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