# Solving systems of equations help

• March 8th 2012, 09:40 PM
guitarmatt
Solving systems of equations help
There's a word problem I don't know how to solve. The answer is 70 soybeans, 30 corn, but I don't know how to get to that answer:

"Mrs. Griffin wants to plant soybeans and corn on 100 acres of land. Soybeans require 6 hours of labor per acre, and corn requires 8 hours of labor per acre. If Mrs. Griffin has 660 hours available, how many acres of each crop should she plant?"
• March 8th 2012, 10:50 PM
earboth
Re: Solving systems of equations help
Quote:

Originally Posted by guitarmatt
There's a word problem I don't know how to solve. The answer is 70 soybeans, 30 corn, <--- that is definitely wrong! 70 beans and 30 corns(?) are not worth 660 hours of work.
but I don't know how to get to that answer:

"Mrs. Griffin wants to plant soybeans and corn on 100 acres of land. Soybeans require 6 hours of labor per acre, and corn requires 8 hours of labor per acre. If Mrs. Griffin has 660 hours available, how many acres of each crop should she plant?"

1. Let x denotes the area planted with beans and y the area planted with corn.

2. According to the text you'll get:

$\left|\begin{array}{rcl}x+y&=&100 \\6x+8y&=&660 \end{array}\right.$

3. Solve for x and y.
• March 9th 2012, 07:30 AM
Wilmer
Re: Solving systems of equations help
This sure doesn't belong in "calculus"!