Need help problem solving--
A 500 space parking lot is packed with motorcycles and passenger cars, with only one vehicle in each space. How many motorcycles & cars r there if the total number of tires on the parked vehicles is 1650?
I think I have to do this in some kind of equation format, I am so confused.
x = number of cars
y = number of motorcycles
4x = number of tires for cars
2y = number of tires for motorcycles
x + y = 500
4x + 2y = 1650
solve together
you should get
325 cars
175 motorcycles
Thanks helper:)
To solve this problem, let's break it down step by step and use equations to find the solution.
Let's assign variables to represent the number of motorcycles and cars. Let's say the number of motorcycles is represented by 'm' and the number of cars is represented by 'c'.
We know that each motorcycle has 2 tires and each car has 4 tires. So we can write an equation for the total number of tires:
2m + 4c = 1650
Now let's use the information given in the problem statement. It states that there are a total of 500 vehicles (motorcycles and cars) parked in the parking lot. So we can write another equation:
m + c = 500
Now we have a system of two equations with two variables. We can solve this system to find the values of 'm' and 'c'.
To solve these equations, we can use a method called substitution or elimination. Let's use the substitution method here.
From the second equation, we can express 'm' in terms of 'c' as m = 500 - c. Now we can substitute this expression for 'm' in the first equation:
2(500 - c) + 4c = 1650
Simplifying the equation:
1000 - 2c + 4c = 1650
Combining like terms:
2c = 650
Dividing both sides by 2:
c = 325
Now that we have the value of 'c', we can substitute it back into the second equation to find the value of 'm':
m + 325 = 500
Subtracting 325 from both sides:
m = 500 - 325
m = 175
Therefore, there are 175 motorcycles and 325 cars in the parking lot.