Question

Bill weighs 150 lbs. He wants to gain 2 lbs per week for football season. Jamal runs track. He wants to lose weight so he can run faster. Jamal weighs 195 lbs and wants to lose 1 lb per week. How many weeks will it take before both of them are the same weight?

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

15 weeks

Explanation:

Let w be the number of weeks.  Bill weighs 150 pounds and wants to gain 2 lbs per week; this gives us the expression 150+2w for Bill.

Jamal weighs 195 and wants to lose 1 pound per week; this gives us the expression 195-1w for Jamal.

To determine how many weeks it will take them to weigh the same, we set the two expressions equal:

150+2w=195-1w

Add 1w to each side:

150+2w+1w = 195-1w+1w

150+3w = 195

Subtract 150 from each side:

150+3w-150 = 195-150

3w = 45

Divide each side by 3:

3w/3 = 45/3

w = 15

Answer 2

It will take 15 weeks for Bill and Jamal to weigh the same.