carrie, Sam and ester have a total of $570. Carrie has $80 more than sam and ester has 5 times as much as sam. How much does each of them have?

s + s + 80 + 5s = 570

7s = 570 - 80

7s = 490

s = 70

Sam has $70.

in the answer what does the "S" represent, i having a hard time understanding how you came up with the snswer

S = Sam

To find out how much each person has, let's assign variables to their amounts.

Let's say Sam has x dollars.

According to the given information, Carrie has $80 more than Sam, so Carrie has x + $80 dollars.

Ester has 5 times as much as Sam, so Ester has 5x dollars.

The sum of the amounts of money they have is $570, so we can create an equation:

x + (x + $80) + 5x = $570

Combining like terms:

7x + $80 = $570

Subtracting $80 from both sides:

7x = $490

Now, divide both sides of the equation by 7:

x = $70

So Sam has $70.

Plugging this value back into the expression for Carrie's amount:

Carrie = x + $80 = $70 + $80 = $150

And Ester has 5 times Sam's amount:

Ester = 5x = 5 * $70 = $350

Therefore, Sam has $70, Carrie has $150, and Ester has $350.