Question

Ann, Chang, and Kareem sent a total of

Answer 1

It is given in the question that

Ann, Chang, and Kareem sent a total of 89 text messages over their cell phones during the weekend. Ann sent 9 fewer messages than Chang. Kareem sent 3 times as many messages as Ann.

Let number of messages Chang sent be x. And Ann sent 9 fewer than Chang, so Ann sent (x-9) messages. And Kareem sent 3 times as many messages as Ann, so Kareem sent 3(x-9) messages.

And the total messages are 89. That is

$x+x-9+3(x-9)=89$

Combining like terms

$x + x - 9 + 3x-27 =89 \\ 5x -36=89 \\ 5x = 125 \\ x =25$

So Chang sent 25 messages, Ann sent

$25-9=16 messages$

And Kareem sent

$3*16 = 48 messages$