Question 19967: m + In Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass, Tweedledum says to Tweedledee, "The sum of your weight and twice mine is 361 pounds." Then Tweedledee says to Tweedledum, "Contrariwise, the sum of your weight and twice mine is 362 pounds." Find the weight of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Answer by glabow(165)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! Actually, they said no such thing! But if they had.....
Let's use two letters for the unknown weights of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. To keep them straight, use the LAST letter of their names: m and e.
So,
e + 2m = 361
This is the first statement by Tweedledum: "your weight" [e] plust twice MY weight [2m] is 361.
The second statement, likewise, is rendered:
m + 2e = 362
Now just solve.
e + 2m = 361
2e + m = 362
2e + 4m = 722 [multiplying the first equation by 2]
3m = 360 [subtracting the second equation from the third one]
m = 120 [dividing both sides by 3]
e + 240 = 361 [substituting the value of m in the first equation]
e = 121 [solving for e]
Checking:
121 + 240 = 361 [first equation]
242 + 120 = 362 [second equation]
They don't seem very fat!
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