document.write( "Question 164306: I really need help trying to make an equation out of this problem. I am having a really hard time turning a word problem into an equation. I am not asking for the answer just help making an equation!! Thank you very much!!! Kathy Gafford\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "When will Johnson be twice as wealthy as Smith if each has $4000 now and if their estates are increasing at the annual rates of $400 for Smith and $1,200 for Johnson? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #121056 by aka042(26) $\"\"$ $\"About$

You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let's let n indicate the number of years that pass, S indicate Smith's estate, and J indicate Johnson's estate.
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\n" ); document.write( "Both Smith and Johnson start at $4000. So with this information, we can write $\"S+=+4000\"$ and $\"J+=+4000\"$ . Now we see that their estates are increasing at $400 and $1200 respectively. Another way of saying this is that at a given year n, Smith's estate will have increased by $400*n ($400 per year) and Johnson's will have increased by $1200*n. So our new equations are $\"S=4000+%2B+400%2An\"$ and $\"J+=+4000+%2B+%241200%2An\"$ .
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\n" ); document.write( "The problem now wants us to find the number of years that it will take for Johnson to be twice as wealth as Smith. In our equation form, this is the same as saying $\"J+=+2S\"$ . We can now substitute our two equations for S and J as follows: $\"4000+%2B+%241200%2An+=+2%2A%28%244000+%2B+%24400%2An%29\"$ . Now just solve for n! \n" ); document.write( "

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