Question

One number is 4 less than 3 times a second number. If 3 more than two times the first number is decreased by two times the second, the result is 11. What are both numbers?

Answer 1

The 1st number is x and the 2nd number is y:

x = 3y-4
3 + 2x - 2y = 11

The first equation says that x is equal to "3y - 4", so you can plug in "3y - 4" for x in the second equation:

3 + 2(3y - 4) - 2y = 11
3 + 6y - 8 - 2y = 11
-5 + 4y = 11
4y = 16
y = 4

Now that you have y, you can plug it into the 1st equation to get x:

x = 3y - 4
x = 3(4) - 4
x = 12 - 4
x = 8

So, the 1st number is 8 and the 2nd number is 4.