Question

In a certain year, there were 88 female officials in Congress, which is comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate. If there were 54 more female members of the House of Representatives than female senators, find the number of females in each house of Congress.

Answer 1

Answer:

• 71 in House of Representatives
• 17 in Senate

Step-by-step explanation:

Let h and s represent the numbers in the House and Senate, respectively. Then we have ...

  h + s = 88

  h - s = 54

Subtracting the second equation from the first gives ...

  (h +s) -(h -s) = (88) -(54)

  2s = 34 . . . . . simplify

  s = 17 . . . . . . . divide by 2

  h = 88 -17 = 71 . . . . find the other value using the sum equation

There were 71 females in the House of Representatives, and 17 females in the Senate.