Question

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

There were 200 tickets sold for a college basketball game. Tickets were $4.50 for students and $9 for adults. The total amount collect was $1485. How many of each type of ticket were sold?

Answer 1

900a + 450s = 148500
-900 (a + s) = (200) -900

900a + 450s = 148500
-900a - 900s = -700
-450s = 147800
s = 328.44 (Completely incorrect)

Answer 2

you are multiplying at this step
-900 (a + s) = (200) -900

the right side is 200* -900 (not 200-900)
you start with a+s=200
and multiply both sides by -900

Answer 3

I also tried not including the .00 on every number

9a + 4.50s = 1485
-9a - 9s = -700
-4.5s = 785
s = 174.44 (also incorrect)

Answer 4

Oh... I see... goddamn I hate myself xD

Answer 5

Yes, I would stick with the smaller numbers, multiplying everything by 100 does not make it easier. In fact, I would divide everything by 9 in the 1st equation to get
\[ \frac{9a}{9}+ \frac{4.5 s}{9}= \frac{1485}{9} \]
which simplifies to
a + \frac{1}{2}s = 165
and the problem is

\[ a+s=200 \]
\[a+\frac{1}{2}s= 165\]
now these look easy to solve.

Answer 6

When I make mistakes like this I try to remember what I was thinking and why I did what I did. It helps me to fix the "bug" in my thinking for next time.

Answer 7

i think you should use simultaneous eqns.

Answer 8

x=number of student tickets
y=number of adults tickets