Question

A person's email for one day contained a total of 78 messages. The number of spam

messages was two less than four times the number of other messages. How many of
the email messages were spam?

Answer 1

62 of the email messages were spam

Explanation:

Let the number of spam and other messages be s and o respectively.

Total number of messages= 78

s +o= 78 -----(1)

s= 4o -2 -----(2)

Substitute (2) into (1):

4o -2 +o= 78

Simplify:

5o -2= 78

+2 on both sides:

5o= 78 +2

5o= 80

Divide both sides by 5:

o= 80 ÷5

o= 16

Since s +o= 78, s= 78 -o.

s= 78 -16

s= 62