Question 60783
Ben scored 7 more points than Jack in a basketball game. Paul scored 2 points less than Jack in the same game. If the three boys scored a total of 38 points, how many points did Jack score?
:
It's not that bad, write a simple equation for each statememt:
we agree that:
:
 B + P + J = 38
:
"Ben scored 7 more points than Jack "
B = J + 7
:
"Paul scored 2 points less than Jack"
P = J - 2
:
In the original equation B + P + J = 38, we can substitute (J+7) for B & (J-2) for P:
(J+7) + (J-2) + J = 38
J + 7 + J - 2 + J = 38
3J + 5 = 38
3J = 38 - 5
J = 33/3
J = 11 points which is what they asked for.
:
It's an easy matter to find the scores of the others and it's a good idea to do that to check the solution.
18 + 9 + 11 = 38