Question 1125180
Nicole, Andy and Ryan sent 68 messages, so this means all of their messages added together equals 68.

Nicole + Andy + Ryan = 68 messages.



SO let's make variables for each name.  I suggest:  
N for Nicole
A for Andy
R for Ryan



Now lets break down what they tell us about each person:


Nicole:  They give us no info so she made N calls


Ali:  Sent 7 more messages than Nicole which is:  A = N + 7


Ryan:  Sent three times as many messages as Ali which:  3A


BUT...  Ali is REALLY:  A  = N  + 7
We can substitute A in for Ryan's calls which will give us:


3A
3(N + 7)



See how all the variables are "N" now?


SO we can say this:



N + N + 7 + 3(N + 7) = 68  Now we solve by distributing the 3...
N + N + 7 +  3N + 21   = 68  Now we add like terms
5N + 28 = 68  Now let's subtract 28 from both sides
5N = 40   Now let's divide both sides by 5
N = 8



SO!  Nicole made 8 texts:  N = 8



Ali is N + 7 which is:
8 + 7 = 15  (Ali made 15 texts)   A = 15



Ryan has tree times as many texts as Ali, which is:
3(A) =
3(15) = 45




All together we have:

Nicole:  8 texts
Ali:    15 texts
Ryan:   45 texts



TOTAL:  68 texts



Does this make sense? I  hope so.