SOLUTION: A number of people bought a 300-hectare farm which they shared equally. if the number of hectares per person was 5 less than their number,find the number of people?

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Question 507794: A number of people bought a 300-hectare farm which they shared equally. if the number of hectares per person was 5 less than their number,find the number of people?
Answer by Earlsdon(6294) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the number of people be n.
300%2Fn+=+n-5 "...the number of hectares per person (300%2Fn) was 5 less than the number of persons (n-5)." Multiply both sides by n.
300+=+n%5E2-5n Subtract 300 from both sides and rearrange as:
n%5E2-5n-300+=+0 Solve by factoring.
%28n%2B15%29%28n-20%29+=+0 Apply the zero product rule.
n%2B15+=+0 or n-20+=+0 so that...
n+=+-15 or n+=+20 Discard the negative solution as number of people can't be negative.
The number of people is 20.
Check:
300%2F20+=+20-5
15+=+15 OK