Question

Need help with a story problem thanks!

Answer 1

Jamail and Wanda sell home theater systems. Jamail earns a base salary of $2400 per month, plus $100 for each system he sells. Wanda earns a base salary of $2200 per month, plus $120 for each system she sells. How many systems do Jamail and Wanda have to sell before they earn the same amount of money?

Answer 2

\(2400+100x=2200+120x\)

Solve for x.

Answer 3

:) thanks. Ok, so i would combine like terms right?

Answer 4

Yep, get terms with variables on one side and constants on the other. Then you will likely divide by the coefficient in front of the variable to get it by itself.

Answer 5

:) okay thankss.. so then:
2400 = 2200 + 220x
subtract 2200 to both sides
200 = 220x
now divide by 220
10/11= x.... that doesnt look right. Am i doing something wrong?

Answer 6

You did indeed do something wrong. To get them on one side you would subtract 100x from 120x to get 20x.
Then you would subtract 2200 from 2400 to get 200.
You would divide 200 by 20 to get 10.

Answer 7

Wait but I thought you would combine like terms; meaning 100x and 120x..

Answer 8

No, they are on opposite sides of an equal sign. so you need to subtract to cancel out an addition on one side.

Answer 9

oh ok i see now.. yes, you would do that because to undo addition you subtract. ok, gotcha. Thanks for explaining. Could i show you my next one and i will work it out.. and you can tell me if i am right or wrong? :)

Answer 10

Marco is draining his two aquariums. The tanks are the same size. One tank has 7 in. of water in it and is being drained at a rate of 1 in./min. The other tank has 5 in. of water in it and is being drained at a rate of 0.5 in./min. After how many minutes will the tanks contain the same amount of water? ________ min

Answer 11

How would i set this one up?