Question

Oliver works at a bookstore.He packed 20 identical paperbacks and 9 identical textbooks in a box. The total mass of the books was 44.4 pounds. After he put 1 more textbook and 5 more paperbacks in the box, the total mass of the books was 51 pounds.
Write a system of equations that can used to determine p, the mass, in pounds, of one paperback, and t, the mass, in pounds of one textbook.

Answer 1

In the problem, the first equation should be represented like this base on the variable given in the problem:

20p + 9t = 44.4

with that equation, the second equation would is given by this formula, in response with the additional number of paperback and textbook

21p + 14t = 51

to get the system equation in getting the mass of each variable, you should subtract the two equation to simplified the formula.

   20p + 9t = 44.4
 - 21p + 14t = 51
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p + 5t = 6.6 // this is the system equation that could be use in getting the mass of each object