Please help...I just can't figure it out..
Amanda, Belinda and mary share 9x packets of beads. Amanda gets x packets more than Belinda. mary gets 6 packets more than Belinda.
(a) how many packets does belinda get in terms of x?
(b) if amanda gets 3 packets more than belinda, how many packets does belinda get?
To solve this problem, we need to set up equations based on the given information. Let's break it down step by step:
(a) To find how many packets Belinda gets in terms of x, we know that Amanda gets x packets more than Belinda and Mary gets 6 packets more than Belinda. Let's represent the number of packets Belinda gets as B.
Since Amanda gets x more packets than Belinda, we can represent the number of packets Amanda gets as B + x.
Since Mary gets 6 more packets than Belinda, we can represent the number of packets Mary gets as B + 6.
The total number of packets shared by all three is 9x. So, we can set up the following equation:
B + B + x + B + 6 = 9x
Combining like terms:
3B + x + 6 = 9x
Subtracting x from both sides:
3B + 6 = 8x
Subtracting 6 from both sides:
3B = 8x - 6
Dividing both sides by 3:
B = (8x - 6) / 3
Therefore, Belinda gets (8x - 6) / 3 packets in terms of x.
(b) In this case, we are given that Amanda gets 3 packets more than Belinda. Using this information, we can represent the number of packets Amanda gets as B + 3.
To find how many packets Belinda gets, we need to subtract the given value (3) from the number of packets Amanda gets:
Belinda = Amanda - 3
Since we already represented the number of packets Amanda gets as B + 3:
Belinda = B + 3 - 3
Belinda = B
So, in this case, Belinda gets the same number of packets as Amanda, which is B.
Please note that the value of B remains the same as we didn't update it after solving part (a).