Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
Determine the types of tickets involved.
There are student tickets and adult tickets.
Create a table to organize the information.
Type  
Number
    
Value ($)
    
Total Value ($)
  
Student    
6
  
Adult    
9
  
1
,
506
  
Step 2. Identify what you are looking for.
We are looking for the number of student and adult tickets.
Step 3. Name. Represent the number of each type of ticket using variables.
We know the number of adult tickets sold was  
5
  less than three times the number of student tickets sold.
Let  
s
  be the number of student tickets.
Then  
3
s
−
5
  is the number of adult tickets.
Multiply the number times the value to get the total value of each type of ticket.
Type  
Number
    
Value ($)
    
Total Value ($)
  
Student  
s
    
6
    
6
s
  
Adult  
3
s
−
5
    
9
    
9
(
3
s
−
5
)
  
1
,
506
  
Step 4. Translate: Write the equation by adding the total values of each type of ticket.
6
s
+
9
(
3
s
−
5
)
=
1506
  
Step 5. Solve the equation.
6
s
+
27
s
−
45
=
1506
33
s
−
45
=
1506
33
s
=
1551
s
=
47
 students
  
Substitute to find the number of adults.
3
s
−
5
=
  number of adults
3
(
47
)
−
5
=
136
  adults
Step 6. Check. There were  
47
  student tickets at  
$6
  each and  
136
  adult tickets at  
$9
  each. Is the total value  
$1506
?
  We find the total value of each type of ticket by multiplying the number of tickets times its value; we then add to get the total value of all the tickets sold.
47
⋅
6
=
282
136
⋅
9
=
1224
_____
  
1506
✓
  
Step 7. Answer the question. They sold  
47
  student tickets and  
136
  adult tickets.