SOLUTION: Could you please help me solve this problem. When Stacy asked Tom how many oranges he had. Tom replied, " If I had many more and half as many more and one and one-half oranges, I'd

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Evaluation -> SOLUTION: Could you please help me solve this problem. When Stacy asked Tom how many oranges he had. Tom replied, " If I had many more and half as many more and one and one-half oranges, I'd      Log On

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Question 972560: Could you please help me solve this problem. When Stacy asked Tom how many oranges he had. Tom replied, " If I had many more and half as many more and one and one-half oranges, I'd have 34. How many oranges does Tom have?
could you also help me answer this : Barrel X contains more cider than barrel Y. From barrel X pour into Y as much cider as Y already contains. Then from Y pour into X as much cider as X now contains. Finally, Pour from X into Y as much cider as Y presently has. Now both barrels contain 64 liters of cider. How many liters of cider did each barrel contain before the pouring process began. Thank you so much fro all your help and time!

Answer by macston(5194) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
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Let x=number of Tom's oranges
When Stacy asked Tom how many oranges he had. Tom replied, " If I had as many more (x+x) and half as many more (x+x+(1/2)x) and one and one-half oranges (2.5x+1.5), I'd have 34. How many oranges does Tom have?
2.5x+1.5=34
2.5x=32.5
x=13 Tom has 13 oranges.
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I don't know of an elegant way to solve this type of problem, just work from the end to the beginning:
Barrel X (88 L) contains more cider than barrel Y (40 L). From barrel X pour into Y as much cider as Y already contains.(Now X=48 L and Y=80 L) Then from Y pour (48 L) into X as much cider as X now contains (48 L).(Now X=96 L and y=32 L) Finally, Pour (32 L) from X (After pouring X has 64 L) into Y as much cider as Y presently has (32 L). Now both barrels contain 64 liters of cider. How many liters of cider did each barrel contain before the pouring process began.