SOLUTION: A party of fishermen rented a boat for $240. Two of the men had to withdraw from the party and, as a result, the share of each of the others was increased by $10. How many fisherme

Question 983686: A party of fishermen rented a boat for $240. Two of the men had to withdraw from the party and, as a result, the share of each of the others was increased by $10. How many fishermen were in the original party?
Answer by macston(5194) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.
x=original number of fishermen
.
Original cost=$240/x
New cost=$240/(x-2)
.
New cost - original cost=$10
($240/(x-2))-$240/x=$10
$240x/(x-2)-$240=$10x
$240x-$240x+$480=$10x^2-$20x
$480=$10x^2-$20
48=x^2-2x
0=x^2-2x-48
0=(x-8)(x+6)
x-8=0 OR x+6=0
x=8 OR x=-6 There cannot be -6 fishermen, so:
ANSWER: The number of fishermen in the original party was 8.
RELATED QUESTIONS
A party of fishermen rented a boat for $240. Two of the men had to withdraw from the... (answered by stanbon)

A group of fishermen rented a boat for $2400. Two of the men withdrew from the party and... (answered by nerdybill)

A group of fishermen rented a boat for PhP2400.00. Two of the men withdrew from the party (answered by josgarithmetic,MathTherapy)

A group of fishermen rented a boat for Php2400.00. Two of the men withdrew from the party (answered by ramkikk66)

For their field studies in marine ecology, a group of students rented a boat for P360.... (answered by ankor@dixie-net.com)

A party of 6 is to be formed from 10 men and 7 women so as to include 3 men and 3 women.... (answered by Edwin McCravy)

A party of students rented a motor boat, Bee, and shared the cost equally. If the number... (answered by longjonsilver)

A group of graduating students rented a bus for their field trip for 6,000. 10 of the... (answered by ikleyn)

A party of tourists booked a hotel for ₹1200. Three of the members failed to pay.... (answered by ikleyn,josgarithmetic)