Question

Please help, I am not good at system of equations at all, I'll give you a medal lol
Steve and Mark both received money for their birthdays. Together, they earned a total of $300. Steve earned $50 less than Mark. How much did each boy earn?

a. Write a system of two equations with two variables to model this problem:

b. Use the substitution or the elimination method to solve the system

Answer 1

So the guys both rec'd $ for the birthdays? And then they went out and earned a total of $300? ??? Please fix up the language so that it reads more logically.

Answer 2

Let m = mark's money
Let s =steve's money
s+m=300
s=m-50

Answer 3

Replace s in the first equation with m-50 from the second equation and solve.

Answer 4

@mathmale they received $300 together(as a whole), but Steve earned $50 less than Mark did.

Answer 5

\(\large {\begin{array}{llll}
s=Steve\qquad m=Mark\\ \quad \\ \quad \\
\textit{Together, they earned a total of }\$300\implies &s+m=300\\ \quad \\
\textit{Steve earned } \$50 \textit{ less than Mark}\implies &s={\color{red}{ m-50}}
\end{array}\\ \quad \\
\bf \implies s+m=300\implies {\color{red}{ m-50}}+m=300}\)

solve for "m" to see how much Mark earned

to know how much Steve earned, well, he got Mark's less $50, so whatever Mark got, minus 50

Answer 6

Do you have any idea how I would graph that? I'm completely lost @jdoe0001

Answer 7

the question asks in part (b) to solve the problem using either substitution or elimination.
why do you want to graph it ?

If you really want to graph it, I would rename your variables x and y.
(It does not matter which is which, just make a note of what x and y stand for)

For example, if mark is x and steve is y, rewrite
s+m=300 --> y + x =300
s=m-50 ----> y= x - 50

you can rewrite the first equation y+x=300 in slope intercept form:
y= -x + 300
the 2nd is already in slope intercept form: y= x-50

now you need to know how to plot lines.