math problem
 

Can anyone try and figure this question out.....

three times a number equals a second number and twice the first number is 3 more than the second number. Find both numbers.

my guess:
the first number is -3, the second number is -9
then again, I'm not a math whiz

lol.... actually its for my brother and he is in 8th grade algebra. I thought asking it on here might help because my parents and I cant figure it out, how pathetic is that :eek: i think its actually kind of funny. There are about 12 more questions like that and i got answers to about two of them but you have to write it in a linear equation form. Its been too long for me to remember that! :confused:

I dont think his teacher explains very well, but on the other hand, no one bothers to ask questions either. :rolleyes:

Heather is correct. Simultaneous equations :)

I got -3 and -9 also.

let x = the first number and y = the second number
we know that 3x=y and 2x=3 + y
so if we substiture 3x for y we get
2x=3+3x
x=-3
then you substitute -3 for x
-9=3(-3)

yea I still have it!

you're awesome, thanks!!! ill give it to my little brother tomorrow morning, he's sleeping now :D

Now i know who to turn to for math questions! ;)

ok, since we are already on the subject of math, I thought I would post this rather than starting a new one. First off, my Teacher is a dick. We had this on a test and not one person got it right. He then told us he never wanted us to "solve" the problem, but if we came up with the formula, he'd give us most of the points. Like I said, dick. Tell me if you need the answer to get the formula. I just want to se if anyone can actually do this! That out of the way, here's the problem:

Abe has $1000 invested in 2 seperate bank accounts. The first account earns 5% annually and the second account earns 4% annually. If Abe recieved $48 last year in interest payments on the two accounts, how much did he have invested in each account? (Note: Interest x rate x time)

hint: there are two formulas

sorry sigkap, I use to be a whiz in math but have been out of school too long, just looking at your word problem I am getting a migraine (have to say I was never good at word problems)

2 separate accounts : X + Y = $1,000
interest : $48

0.05X + 0.04Y = 48

0.05X + 0.04 (1000 - X) = 48

0.05X + 40 - 0.04X = 48

0.01X = 8

X = $800

Y = $200


What class was this for?

you go John!!!!!!