SOLUTION: Neichelle is planning her spring flower garden. She wants to plant tulip and daffodil bulbs. She will plant 5 times as many daffodil bulbs as tulip bulbs. If she wants to plant 204

Let x be the number of the tulip bulbs.

Then the number of the daffodil bulbs is 5x.


An equation for the total is

    x + 5x = 204.


Simplify and find x

     6x    = 204

      x    = 204/6 = 34.


ANSWER.  34 tulip bulbs and 5*34 = 170 daffodil bulbs.

She will plant 5 times as many daffodil bulbs as tulip bulbs. 
If she wants to plant 204 bulbs, how many tulip bulbs and how
many daffodil bulbs should she plant?

Word problems that ask for two quantities are usually easier 
to think through and set up using two unknowns. That's a 
separate unknown for each quantity, and a separate equation
for each sentence.

The first sentence simply tells us: 



Let D = the number of daffodil bulbs to plant.
Let T = the number of tulip bulbs to plant.

So that is just the equation D = 5T.

The second sentence simply tells us:

...she wants to plant 204 bulbs...



So that is just the equation D + T = 204



Substitute 5T for D in the 2nd equation.





Substitute 34 for T in D+T=204

She should plant 34 tulip bulbs and 170 daffodil bulbs.

Edwin