Problema Solution
Eric has twice as much money as Marcia, who has $175 less than Laurel. But Laurel has as much money as Eric and Marcia have together. How much money does each person have?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let E denote how much money Eric has, M is how much money Marcia has, and L is how much money Laurel has. The information given implies that: (1) E=2M, (2) L=M+175, and (3) L=E+M.
Substituting the right-hand sides of (1) and (2) into (3) yields M+175=2M+M or 175=2M or M=87.5. Now substitute M=87.5 into (1) to find that E=2(87.5)=175. Finally, substitute M=87.5 and E=175 into (3) to find that L=175+87.5=262.5.