Problema Solution
there are approximately 2,400 stocks traded on the New York stock exchange. yesterday's stock market report indicated that "advancers led decliners by 5 to 3." if 720 of the stocks were unchanged yesterday, how many were "decliners""?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let
x = the number of "advancers"
y = the number of "decliners"
Since 720 stocks are unchanged then the rest of the stocks 2,400 - 720 are either advancers or decliners:
x + y = 2,400 - 720
x + y = 1,680
"advancers led decliners by 5 to 3" means:
x : y = 5 : 3 cross-multiply
5y = 3x
We have the following system of equations:
x + y = 1680
5y = 3x
........
click here to see the system of equations solved for x and y
........
x = 1,050 "advancers
y = 630 "decliners"
There were 630 "decliners" on the New York stock exchange.