Half the books you own are mysteries. one third are nonfiction. the other four books are science fiction. how many of your books are mysteries?

Question

asked May 15, 2023 20.4k views

1 Answer

Brian Goldman · Answer 1 · 2023-05-21T14:43:54+0000

Answer:

Explanation:

let n be the total number of the books.

→ “Half the books you own are mysteries” means (n÷2) are mysteries

→ “one third are nonfiction” means (n÷3) are non fiction

→ 4 books are sc-fiction

………………………………………

We can form this equation:

(n)/(2) +(n)/(3) +4=n

$\Longrightarrow \left( (1)/(2) +(1)/(3) \right) n+4=n$

$\Longrightarrow (5)/(6) n+4=n$

$\Longrightarrow 4=n-(5)/(6) n$

$\Longrightarrow 4=(1)/(6) n$

$\Longrightarrow 4*6= n$

$\Longrightarrow n=24$

………………

Therefore

The number of mystery books = n÷2 = 24÷2 = 12