document.write( "Question 1090127: Lita has 15.50 pesos more than Rosa.If together they have 71.50 pesos,how much does each girl have?
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Algebra.Com's Answer #704531 by EMStelley(208) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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We start by naming variables that represent how much each girl has.
\n" ); document.write( "Let L = number of pesos Lita has
\n" ); document.write( "Let R = number of pesos Rosa has
\n" ); document.write( "The first sentence \"Lita has 15.50 pesos more than Rosa\" implies that we can use addition to represent this formula.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"L+=+15.5+%2B+R\"$
\n" ); document.write( "And the second sentence \"Together they have 71.50 pesos\" also implies addition.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"L+%2B+R+=+71.5\"$
\n" ); document.write( "So now we have two equations and two unknowns. In order to solve we can use the substitution method. Our first equation has an expression for L, (15.5 + R), so we can replace the L in the second equation with this expression.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"%2815.5+%2B+R%29+%2B+R+=+71.5\"$
\n" ); document.write( "Now we solve for R.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"15.5+%2B+2R+=+71.5\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"2R+=+56\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"R+=+28\"$
\n" ); document.write( "So Rosa has 28 pesos. To find how many Lita has, we can use either equation to solve for L.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"L+%2B+28+=+71.5\"$
\n" ); document.write( " $\"L+=+43.5\"$
\n" ); document.write( "Thus Lita has 43.50 pesos. \n" ); document.write( "

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