Question

Mike had twice as many paper birds as june. After he gave 15 paper birds to june, he had half as many paper birds as june. How many paper birds do they have in all?

Answer 1

Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

Begin by assigning expressions for both Mike and June.  If Mike has twice as many birds as June, then June has x birds and Mike has 2x birds.  "After he gave 15 paper birds to June" means we are subtracting 15 from what he has, which is 2x.  Therefore, the first part (or the left side of our equation) looks like this:  2x - 15 =

Now what he has left is what goes on the right side of the equals sign.  If what Mike has left is half as many as June, then 1/2x goes on the right.  Our equation then is

$2x-15=\frac{1}{2}x$

Combine like terms to get

$\frac{3}{2}x=15$

Multiply both sides by 2/3 to get that x = 10.  If x is June's number of paper birds, and Mike's is 2x, then Mike has 20.  Together they have 30.