Question

Mary and her brother John collect foreign coins. Mary has three times the number of coins that John has. Together they have 160 foreign coins. Find how many coins Mary has.
A.

120 coins

B.

24 coins

C.

112 coins

D.

40 coins

Answer 1

1) Define your terms. WRITE DOWN clear and concise definitions.

M = # of coins Mary has.
J = # of coins John has.

2) Translate the problem statement in terms of these terms.

"Mary has three times the number of coins that John has"

M = 3J

You do the next one.

"Together they have 160 foreign coins."

Translation in terms of M and J is: __________________________________