Question

A. One day Annie weighed 24 ounces more than Benjie, and Benjie weighed 3 1/4 pounds less than Carmen. How did Annie’s and Carmen’s weights compare on that day?
B. Why can’t you tell how much each person weighed?

Draw diagrams to support your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:

A.

Let Annie's weight be = a

Let Benjie's weighs = b

Let Carmen's weight be = c

One day Annie weighed 24 ounces more than Benjie, equation forms:

$a=b+24$        ......(1)

Benjie weighed 3 1/4 pounds less than Carmen.  

In ounces:

1 pound = 16 ounces

$\frac{13}{4}$ pounds = $\frac{13}{4}\times16=52$ ounces

$b=c-52$  or

$c=b+52$    ......(2)

Now adding (1) and (2), we get

a+b=b+24+c-52

=> $a=c-28$

This gives  Annie weighs 28 ounces less than Carmen.

B.

We cannot know anyone's actual weight, as we only know their relative weights.