Question

three siblings collect rare coins. to determine the number of rare coins samantha has , taken the number of rare coins kevin has, add 4 and then divide that sum by 2. to determine the number of rare coins ben has double the number of rare coins kevin has subtract by 4 and then multiply that difference by2. how many rare coins does each sibling have if they have a total of 49 rare coins

Answer 1

Divide 49 by 3 which equals 16.33

Each sibling has around 16 rare coins :D

Answer 2

yeaaaa around 15 or 16

Answer 3

Politely disagree with the previous responses. The problem does not state that the coins are evenly distributed among the three siblings. In fact, because 49 is not divisible by 3, the siblings cannot have the same number of coins.

There are three siblings, Samantha, Kevin, and Ben. Let their respective # of coins be S, K, and B respectively.

Using the information from the problem:

to determine the number of rare coins samantha has , take the number of rare coins kevin has, add 4 and then divide that sum by 2 ---> so S = (K+4)/2

to determine the number of rare coins ben has double the number of rare coins kevin has subtract by 4 and then multiply that difference by2 ---> so B = 2(2K - 4)

now you have equations for S and B in terms of K.

all together, the three siblings have:

K + S + B = 49 coins

substituting the previous equations

(K+4)/2 + 2(2K - 4) + K = 49

solve for K to get how many coins Kevin has. from there, you can go back into the S and B equations, plug in K and determine how many coins Samantha and Ben have.