# I tried doing this 3 times already!!!

• Sep 27th 2012, 06:32 PM
Rosestar
I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
In a recent election, Abby received 46 more votes than Barbara. If a total of 480 votes were cast for the two candidates, find out how many votes each candidate received.

a) Write the equation you would use to solve this problem, using http://www.imathas.com/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?%7Bb%7D as the number of Barbara's electoral votes. __________

b) After solving the equation, how many votes did Barbara receive? ________

c) After solving the equation, how many votes did Abby receive? __________
• Sep 27th 2012, 06:35 PM
MarkFL
Re: I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
What 2 equations did you initially write down from the given information?
• Sep 27th 2012, 06:46 PM
Rosestar
Re: I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkFL2
What 2 equations did you initially write down from the given information?

B+46-b=480
• Sep 27th 2012, 07:04 PM
MarkFL
Re: I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
Let \$\displaystyle a\$ be the number of votes for Abby, and \$\displaystyle b\$ be the number of votes for Barbara.

We are told "Abby received 46 more votes than Barbara" which gives us:

\$\displaystyle a=b+46\$

We are told "a total of 480 votes were cast for the two candidates" which gives us:

\$\displaystyle a+b=480\$

Substituting for \$\displaystyle a\$ from the first equation into the second gives us:

\$\displaystyle b+46+b=480\$

Now, you may solve for \$\displaystyle b\$...
• Sep 27th 2012, 07:10 PM
Rosestar
Re: I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkFL2
Let \$\displaystyle a\$ be the number of votes for Abby, and \$\displaystyle b\$ be the number of votes for Barbara.

We are told "Abby received 46 more votes than Barbara" which gives us:

\$\displaystyle a=b+46\$

We are told "a total of 480 votes were cast for the two candidates" which gives us:

\$\displaystyle a+b=480\$

Substituting for \$\displaystyle a\$ from the first equation into the second gives us:

\$\displaystyle b+46+b=480\$

Now, you may solve for \$\displaystyle b\$...

b+46+b=480
-46 -46

b+b=434
2b/2 434/2

B=217
• Sep 27th 2012, 07:19 PM
MarkFL
Re: I tried doing this 3 times already!!!
Correct, now you can use the original first equation to find a...