Stella has five times a many books as Tina, if Stella gave Tina 16 books, they would have the same amount. How many books did each girl have???

Question

geometry_hater · Answer

8 and 40

geometry_hater · Answer

8 * 5 = 40       Check    40 - 16 = 24        8 +16 = 24

anonymous · Answer

why did you multiply 8*5?

geometry_hater · Answer

because 8 is what tina started with the problem says that stella has 5 times as much so we multiply 8 times 5 to get 40  thats how many books stella has

anonymous · Answer

where did you get 8 from?

geometry_hater · Answer

well actually i  kinda have to guess for it a little you see 

if it was 9 it wouldnt have worked

geometry_hater · Answer

err if we guessed 9 it wouldnt have worked

anonymous · Answer

lol

anonymous · Answer

Solve the following for stella and tina:  Yes, one does not always have to stick with x and y for unknowns.

{stella = 5 tina, stella - 16 = tina + 16}
{stella = 40, tina = 8}

anonymous · Answer

so how would you solve algebraically?