Create variables for each person and write equations to represent their relationships.
15
Practice makes perfect
Using the given information, we can create three equations to help us find the number of books that Jasmine owns. Let the number of books owned by Brian be B, by Erika be E, and by Jasmine be J.
Given Information
Equation
Brian has 3 more books than Erika.
B=3+E
Jasmine has triple (* 3) the number of books that Brian has.
J=3B
Altogether Brian, Erika, and Jasmine have 22 books.
B+J+E=22
Now, we need to combine our equations in a way that allows us to solve for J.
Rewriting the Equations
In the first equation, B is expressed in terms of E. In the second equation, J is expressed in terms of B. Using the first equation, we can rewrite J so that it's also expressed in terms of E.
