Question

Meredith picked 4 times as many green peppers as red peppers. If she picked a total of 20 peppers, how many green peppers did she pick?

Answer 1

Let's have X represent the number of red peppers Meredith picked:

X = red peppers

We know that Meredith picked 4 times as many green peppers as red peppers, so based on this:

green peppers = 4*(red peppers) = 4X

In total, she picked 20, so:

Red peppers + Green peppers = 20
X + 4X = 20
5X = 20
X = 4

So, Meredith picked 4 red peppers and 16 (4 times 4) green peppers!