# Math Help - Daily wage word problem - with insufficient data?

1. ## Daily wage word problem - with insufficient data?

Ann's daily wage is $10 less that Bill's. So she has to work 4 days more than Bill to earn the same amount of money as Bill. If Bill earns$480, find Ann's daily wage.

I created a table like so,

Ann Bill
Wage (x-10) x
Days (y+4) y
Salary (x-10)(y+4) 480

Then, using the equation,

(x-10)(y+4) = 480

I got,
2x - 5y = 20

I can't seem to figure out how to proceed. What am I missing? Do I have to make an assumption of the number of days?

Thanks.

2. Originally Posted by mathguy80
Ann's daily wage is $10 less that Bill's. So she has to work 4 days more than Bill to earn the same amount of money as Bill. If Bill earns$480, find Ann's daily wage.

I created a table like so,

Ann Bill
Wage (x-10) x
Days (y+4) y
Salary (x-10)(y+4) 480

Then, using the equation,

(x-10)(y+4) = 480

I got,
2x - 5y = 20

I can't seem to figure out how to proceed. What am I missing? Do I have to make an assumption of the number of days?

Thanks.
All your considerations and calculations are correct.

You only forgot that Bill earns some money too:

$x \cdot y = 480~\implies~y = \dfrac{480}x$

Replace the variable y in your equation by the term above and solve for x.

3. Doh! Completely missed that!

So got a quadratic equation, and solving for x, discarded the negative value, Ann's share is \$30.