Step-by-step explanation
1. Rewrite the information given in the problem as equations
2 sentences contain the information we are after.
The first, [The sum of the 2 numbers is 15], we learn that:
There are 2 numbers we are looking for, as we don't know what they are, we will refer to them as and .
The sum of and is 15. This can be mathematically expressed as
From the following sentence, [the quotient of the 2 numbers is 4], we further learn that the quotient of and equals 4.
This information, can then be expressed in another equation, which would be
We now have a system of equations:
2. Find the numbers by solving the system of equations
To solve this system of equations, we first solve for the first variable in the first equation and then substitute the result into the second equation.
Solving this set of equation yields the solution set
Therefore, the 2 numbers we’ve been asked to find are 12 and 3
How did we do?
Please leave us feedback.Why learn this
Being able to solve word problems is a big part of scientific and business life.