Answer:
Erica has 51 action figures and Ricardo has 17 action figures.
Step-by-step explanation:
First, label your variables.
x=the number of action figures Erica has
y=the number of action figures Ricardo has
You know that they have 68 total action figures so x+y=68.
Erica has 3 times as many as Ricardo so 3y=x. Then solve for x and y.
x+y=68 3y=x (Substitue 3y for x)
3y+y=68 (Then combine like terms)
4y=68 (Divide each side by 4)
y= 17
Now that you know that Ricardo has 17 action figures, you can plug 17 in for y in either equation to find x.
3(17)=x
x=51
To check your answers, you can plug them back into the original equations.
