Question

One number is larger than another by 9. If the greater number is increased by 10, and the lesser number is tripled, the sum of the two would be -41. What are the two numbers

Answer 1

Answer:

The larger number is -6, the smaller number is -15

Step-by-step explanation:

We have two numbers, a and b.

We know that one number is larger than another by 9.

Then we can write:

a = b + 9

then a is larger than b by 9 units.

If the greater number is increased by 10 (a + 10) and the lesser number is tripled (3*b), the sum of the two would be -41:

(a + 10) + 3*b = -41

So we got two equations:

a = b + 9

(a + 10) + 3*b = -41

This is a system of equations.

One way to solve this is first isolate one variable in one of the two equations:

But we can see that the variable "a" is already isolated in the first equation, so we have:

a = b + 9

now we can replace that in the other equation:

(a + 10) + 3*b = -41

(b + 9) + 10 + 3*b = -41

now we can solve this for b.

9 + b + 10 + 3b = -41

(9 + 10) + (3b + b) = -41

19 + 4b = -41

4b = -41 -19 = -60

b = -60/4 = -15

b = -15

then:

a = b + 9

a = -15 + 9 = -6

a = -6