Question

An Orchestra has twice as many woodwind instruments as brass instruments. There are a total of 150 brass and wood instruments.

How would I write and two different addition equations to describe this situation? Please help!

Answer 1

Brass + Brass = Woodwind

Brass + Woodwind = 150

Brass = 50, Woodwind = 100

Explanation:

Hi there!

The two addition equations would be:

Brass + Brass = Woodwind

(As there are twice as many woodwind as brass)

AND

Brass + Woodwind = 150

(As there are 150 of those instruments in total)

These two equations fully describe this situation, and you can use them to solve the problem using substitution as well.

Since Woodwind = Brass + Brass, then:

Brass + Woodwind =150

Can also be written as:

Brass + (Brass+Brass) = 150

Now we can solve by combining all the like terms which gives us:

3*Brass = 150

Brass = 150/3

Brass = 50 meaning that Woodwind = 100, as 50+50=100.

Hope this helped!