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You can put this solution on YOUR website!
\n" ); document.write( "(Note: the other tutor misread the problem; there is no inequality in this problem....)
\n" ); document.write( "In reality, the problem can't be answered, because the phrase \"three times less than\" does not mean what the problem intends it to mean.
\n" ); document.write( "Presumably, if the phrase is used in its nonsensical everyday way, three times less than means 1/3 as much:
\n" ); document.write( "I have $15; you have 3 times less than I have. So the amount you have is 1/3 of $15, or $5.
\n" ); document.write( "But grammatically three times less than means something completely different:
\n" ); document.write( "I have $15; you have 3 times less than I have. So the amount you have is what I have ($15), minus three times that amount ($45), which means the amount you have is -$30.
\n" ); document.write( "That is nonsense...!
\n" ); document.write( "Any math problem that uses the phrase \"x times less than\" is an invalid problem, because the intended meaning is almost certainly not the real meaning.
\n" ); document.write( "This problem can be worked using the real meaning of the given information; but the result is almost certainly not the intended answer.
\n" ); document.write( "The given information, correctly interpreted, means that x is three times less than (45-10x).
\n" ); document.write( "Three times less than (45-10x) is
\n" ); document.write( "(45-10x) - 3(45-10x) = 20x-90
\n" ); document.write( "Then the equation says
\n" ); document.write( "x = 20x-90
\n" ); document.write( "19x = 90
\n" ); document.write( "x = 90/19 \n" ); document.write( "