Question

Sean spend 15 more minutes than faith on algebra homework. The two students spent 55 minutes in all. How much time did faith spend on her homework?

Answer 1

Gotcha.

We know Sean spent 15 more minutes than Faith.

So, we know this to be true:


Sean = 15 + Faith


We also know that Sean and Faith spent a TOTAL time of 55 minutes on homework.

So, we have this:

Sean + Faith = 55


We can solve for Faith's time spent in homework now since we have two equations.


Here are the two equations we have:

Sean = 15 + Faith

Sean + Faith = 55

To make solving for Faith easier, I'm going to rearrange the second equation to this:

55 = Sean + Faith


Now, we solve the problem.


Sean = 15 + Faith

55 = Sean + Faith

We know what Sean is, he is 15 + Faith.

So, we can plug in 15 + Faith into Sean in the second equation.


55 = 15 + Faith + Faith

Simplify:


55 = 15 + 2Faith

55 - 15 = 15 - 15 + 2Faith

(I subtracted 15 from both sides)

40 = 2Faith

Now, divide by 2 on both sides to get Faith's time.

40 ÷ 2 = 2Faith ÷ 2

20 = Faith



If you have any questions or comments then please post them. Otherwise, good luck, and I hope this was useful!