Actually, i made a mistake. All though we still came up with the right answer, I made a mistake and copied another book answer to another question into this question.
The real book answer to this word problem is: ( Let's translate the English into Math: x+3x=60, so x=15 and the two #'s are 15 and 45. Thus the lesser # is 15. so the answer is B,15.
Please explain. We could probably set this up the same way right? If so, show me please.
One # is 3 times another # and their sum is 60. what is the lesser of the two #'s?
(This is what I did: nx3=60. 60 divided by 3 is 20 so i got n=20 as my answer.)
(n represents another #. And I typed nx3 because the problem says 3 X's another #.)
But the book says my answer is wrong and the answer is 15. Here's what the book says:( Let's translate the english into math: x+5x=-60,6x=-60,so x=-10, and the two #'s are -10 and -50. The lesser # is -50.
(I don't understand where they got the 6x=-60 from and I still don't understand how they got 15. I don't even know what a lesser # means!)
One number = X
Other number = 3X
sum of two numbers = 60 so
X + 3X = 60
4X = 60
X = 60/4 = 15
X = 15
3X = 45.
The lesser number is 15.
where did you get 3x=45 from?????
If the lesser number is 15 and the other number is 3 times that, then 3*15 = 45 as the other number. And 15 + 45 = 60 which the problem states.
Oh okay. I got it now. Thanks!
Never mind. I think you caught my mistake from the beggaining right? That's why we ended up with the right answer right?
Type back and let me know.
The answer you typed and my original answer are almost word for word the same.
oh o.k then. Thanks! : )
Yes, it seems like there was a mistake in the original book answer and your initial answer. However, by setting up the problem correctly and solving it, we can arrive at the correct answer.
Let's go through the problem step-by-step to understand it better:
The problem states that one number is three times another number and their sum is 60.
Let's represent the first number as 'X' and the other number as '3X'.
Therefore, the sum of the two numbers is given by the equation:
X + 3X = 60
Combining like terms, we get:
4X = 60
To isolate X, we divide both sides of the equation by 4:
X = 60/4
X = 15
So, the first number (X) is 15.
To find the other number, we substitute the value of X into our expression for the second number:
3X = 3 * 15
3X = 45
Hence, the lesser number is 15, which matches with your answer.
It seems like there was an error in the original book's solution, as they used the equation x + 5x = -60 instead of x + 3x = 60. This led to a different answer of -50 instead of the correct answer of 15 and 45.
In summary, the correct solution is X = 15 and the other number is 45.