This week, Bailey earned $3 less than three times the amount he earned last week. He earned $36 this week. How much did he earn last week?
1 Answer
Feb 12, 2016
Bailey earned 13 dollars last week.
Explanation:
To help solve the problem, convert the words into an equation.
"3 less than three times the amount he earned last week" translates into 3x-3 where x is the amount Bailey earned last week. All of this equals what he earned this week. So if you make the quantity that Bailey earned this week y, the equation looks like this:
However, you are given how much Bailey earned this week which is 36 dollars. Plug that into y.
Since you want to find how much he earned last week, solve for x since it represents how much he earned last week.
Bailey earned 13 dollars last week.
