Melissa collected three kinds of autumn leaves when she was out walking today -elm, maple, and oak. She has 2 times as many maple leaves as elm leaves and 5 times as many oak leaves as elm leaves. Altogether, she has 32 leaves. How many of each kind does she have?
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Let's assume that Melissa has x elm leaves.
According to the information given, Melissa has 2 times as many maple leaves as elm leaves, so she has 2x maple leaves.
Melissa also has 5 times as many oak leaves as elm leaves, so she has 5x oak leaves.
To find the total number of leaves, we add all the different types of leaves: x (elm leaves) + 2x (maple leaves) + 5x (oak leaves) = 32.
Combining like terms, we have 8x = 32.
Now, we can solve for x by dividing both sides of the equation by 8:
8x / 8 = 32 / 8,
x = 4.
Therefore, Melissa has 4 elm leaves, 2x = 2 * 4 = 8 maple leaves, and 5x = 5 * 4 = 20 oak leaves.
To solve this problem, let's assume the number of elm leaves Melissa has is "x".
According to the given information:
- Melissa has 2 times as many maple leaves as elm leaves, so she has 2x maple leaves.
- Melissa has 5 times as many oak leaves as elm leaves, so she has 5x oak leaves.
Adding up all the leaves:
x + 2x + 5x = 32
Combining like terms:
8x = 32
Now, we can solve for x by dividing both sides of the equation by 8:
8x / 8 = 32 / 8
x = 4
Melissa has 4 elm leaves, 2x maple leaves (2 * 4 = 8), and 5x oak leaves (5 * 4 = 20).
Therefore, Melissa has 4 elm leaves, 8 maple leaves, and 20 oak leaves.