Larry and his sister, Betty, are saving money to buy their own laptop computers. Larry has $215 and can save $35 each week. Betty has $380 and can save $20 each week, When will Larry and Betty have the same amount of money?
To find when Larry and Betty will have the same amount of money, we need to calculate how many weeks it will take for their savings to be equal.
Let's start with Larry:
Larry currently has $215, and he can save an additional $35 each week. So we can represent Larry's total savings over time using the equation:
Larry's savings = $215 + ($35 * number of weeks)
Similarly, for Betty:
Betty currently has $380, and she can save an additional $20 each week. We can represent Betty's total savings over time using the equation:
Betty's savings = $380 + ($20 * number of weeks)
Now, we want to find the number of weeks when their savings are equal. Let's set up the equation:
Larry's savings = Betty's savings
$215 + ($35 * number of weeks) = $380 + ($20 * number of weeks)
To solve this equation, we need to isolate the "number of weeks" variable on one side. Let's do that:
$215 + ($35 * number of weeks) - ($20 * number of weeks) = $380
Now, we can simplify the equation further:
$215 + $15 * number of weeks = $380
Next, we'll isolate the "number of weeks" variable by subtracting $215 from both sides:
$15 * number of weeks = $380 - $215
$15 * number of weeks = $165
Finally, we'll divide both sides by $15 to solve for the "number of weeks":
number of weeks = $165 / $15
number of weeks = 11
Therefore, Larry and Betty will have the same amount of money after 11 weeks.