Solving Problems With Two Variables

By L.D.

Problem 1
A rectangle has a perimeter of 32. Its length is 10 cm greater than its width. Find the dimensions.

Problem 1
A rectangle has a perimeter of 32. Its length is 10 cm greater than its width. Find the dimensions.
Now to start out we know that it is the perimeter of a rectangle (length + length + width + width) it can also be seen as (length x 2 + width x 2 = Perimeter) So lets put that in an equation using l for length and w for width.

Problem 1
A rectangle has a perimeter of 32. Its length is 10 cm greater than its width. Find the dimensions.
2l + 2w = 32

Problem 1
A rectangle has a perimeter of 32. Its length is 10 cm greater than its width. Find the dimensions.
2l + 2w = 32 Now we need to get the second half of the problem, the next equation. The word greater implies a plus sign so what it is basically saying is that if you add 10 cm to the length you get the width. Lets try that.

Problem 1
A rectangle has a perimeter of 32. Its length is 10 cm greater than its width. Find the dimensions.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w

Problem 1
Now we can try to substitute.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w

Problem 1
Now we can try to substitute.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w 2l + 2(10 + l ) = 32 2l + 20 + 2l = 32 4l + 20 = 32 -20 -20 4l = 12 4 4

Problem 1
Now we can try to substitute.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w 2l + 2(10 + l ) = 32 2l + 20 + 2l = 32 4l + 20 = 32 -20 -20 4l = 12 4 4 l =3

Problem 1
Now we can try to substitute the l into the problem.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w 10 + 3 = w

Problem 1
Now we can try to substitute the l into the problem.
2l + 2w = 32 10 + l = w 10 + 3 = w 13 = w

Problem 1
The length is 3 cm and the width is 13 cm.

Problem 2
Karin has 70 marbles. There are 32 more colored marbles than plain marbles. How many plain marbles does she have?

Problem 2
Karin has 70 marbles. There are 32 more colored marbles than plain marbles. How many plain marbles does she have?

Now, we know she has 70 marbles in total. Since we know she has 32 more colored than plain we just subtract that from 70 to get 38. Then we slice that answer is half to make it even and the answer we have for the amount of plain marbles is

Problem 2
Karin has 70 marbles. There are 32 more colored marbles than plain marbles. How many plain marbles does she have?

Now, we know she has 70 marbles in total. Since we know she has 32 more colored than plain we just subtract that from 70 to get 38. Then we slice that answer is half to make it even and the answer we have for the amount of plain marbles is 19 plain marbles

Problem 3
The sum of two numbers is 15, twice one number equals 3 times the other. Find the numbers.

Problem 3
The sum of two numbers is 15, twice one number equals 3 times the other. Find the numbers. First we need to define the numbers, I choose z and u. So z + u = 15, and now lets have twice z equals 3u or 2z = 3u. Next we substitute.

Problem 3
z + u = 15 2z = 3u
z + u = 15 15 u = z 2 (15 u) = 3u 30 -2u = 3u +2u +2u 30 = 5u 5 5 6=u

Problem 3
z + u = 15 2z = 3u 2z = 3(6) 2z = 18 2 2 z=9