For three consecutive years, Sam invested some money at the start of the year. The first year, he invested x dollars. The second
year, he invested $2,000 less than 5/2 times the amount he invested the first year. The third year, he invested $1,000 more than 1/5 of the amount he invested the first year. During the same three years, Sally also invested some money at the start of every year. The first year, she invested $1,000 less than 3/2 times the amount Sam invested the first year. The second year, she invested $1,500 less than 2 times the amount Sam invested the first year. The third year, she invested $1,400 more than 1/4 of the amount Sam invested the first year.
If Sam and Sally invested the same total amount at the end of three years, the amount Sam invested the first year is $ and the amount Sally invested the last year is $ .
To answer we let x be the amount of money that Sam invested during the first year.
Below are the expressions translated from the given word forms for the amount invested.
Sam: 2nd year : amount = 5x/2 - 2000 3rd year : amount = x/5 + 1000
The sum of money invested by Sam is: x + (5x/2 - 2000) + (x/5 + 1000)
Similarly, we derive the expressions that we use for the amount that Sally invested. Sally 1st year : amount = 3x/2 - 1000 2nd year : amount = 2x - 1500 3rd year : amount = x/4 + 1400
The total amount that Sally invested is, total = (3x/2 - 1000) + (2x - 1500) + (x/4 + 1400)
