Question

The larger of two numbers is 1 less than 3 times the smaller. their sum is 63. find the numbers

Answer 1

Your answer would be 5 and 2 :)

Answer 2

Let's make two simultaneous equations and solve. Let's call the smaller number s, and the larger number l
$l=3s-1\\l+s=63\\\text{now solve this, and find l and s}\\\text{modifying the second equation}\\l=63-s\\\text{plugging this into the first equation}\\63-s=3s-1\\\text{solve for s}\\64=4s\\s=16\\\text{plug this into the second equation from the original two}\\l+16=63\\\text{solve for l}\\l=47\\\text{gather the answers. The answers are: the larger number is 47, and the smaller number is 16.}$