Barney has $450 and spends $3 each week. Betty has $120 and saves $8 each week. How many weeks will

Discussion in 'Calculator Requests' started by math_celebrity, Oct 14, 2021.

  1. math_celebrity

    math_celebrity Administrator Staff Member

    Barney has $450 and spends $3 each week. Betty has $120 and saves $8 each week. How many weeks will it take for them to have the same amount of money?

    Let w be the number of weeks that go by for saving/spending.

    Set up Barney's balance equation, B(w). Spending means we subtract
    B(w) = Initial Amount - spend per week * w weeks
    B(w) = 450 - 3w

    Set up Betty's balance equation, B(w). Saving means we add
    B(w) = Initial Amount + savings per week * w weeks
    B(w) = 120 + 8w

    The same amount of money means both of their balance equations B(w) are equal. So we set Barney's balance equal to Betty's balance and solve for w:
    450 - 3w = 120 + 8w

    Add 3w to each side to isolate w:
    450 - 3w + 3w = 120 + 8w + 3w

    Cancelling the 3w on the left side, we get:
    450 = 120 + 11w

    Rewrite to have constant on the right side:
    11w + 120 = 450

    Subtract 120 from each side:
    11w + 120 - 120 = 450 - 120

    Cancelling the 120's on the left side, we get:
    11w = 330

    To solve for w, we divide each side by 11
    11w/11 = 330/11

    Cancelling the 11's on the left side, we get:
    w = 30

     

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