Question

Mario and Luigi were selling coupon books for the Video game club fundraiser. Apparently, Mario is a much better salesperson, because he sold 4 times as many coupon books as Luigi. If Luigi sold 12 fewer coupon books than Mario, what was the total number of coupon books the two boys sold?

Answer 1

Answer: the total number of coupon books sold is 20.

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x represent the number of coupon books that Mario sold.

Let y represent the number of coupon books that Luigi sold.

Apparently, Mario is a much better salesperson, because he sold 4 times as many coupon books as Luigi. This is expressed as

x = 4y

If Luigi sold 12 fewer coupon books than Mario, the expression would be

x = y + 12 - - - - - - - - - - -- -1

Substituting x = 4y into equation 1, it becomes

4y = y + 12

4y - y = 12

3y = 12

y = 12/3

y = 4

x = 4y = 4 × 4

x = 16

The total number of coupon books that the two boys sold is

4 + 16 = 20