The admission fee at a small fair is $1.50 for children and $4.

00 for
adults. On a certain day, 2200 people enter the fair and $5050 is
collected. How many children and how many adults attended?
Solution:
number of adults: a

number of children: c

With these variables, I can create equations for the totals they've given me:

total number: a + c = 2200

total income: 4a + 1.5c = 5050

Now I can solve the system for the number of adults and the number of children. I
will solve the first equation for one of the variables, and then substitute the result
into the other equation:

a = 2200 – c

4(2200 – c) + 1.5c = 5050

8800 – 4c + 1.5c = 5050

8800 – 2.5c = 5050

–2.5c = –3750

c = 1500

Now I can back-solve for the value of the other variable:

a = 2200 – (1500) = 700

I have values for my two variables. I can look back at my definitions for the
variables to interpret these values. To answer the original question, there were:

1500 children and 700 adults.

The sum of the digits of a two-digit number is 7. When the digits are
reversed, the number is increased by 27. Find the number.
Solution:
I'll use "t" for the "tens" digit of the original number and "u" for the "units" (or
"ones") digit. I then have:

t+u=7

The ten's digit stands for "ten times of this digit's value". Just as "26" is "10 times
2, plus 6 times 1", so also the two-digit number they've given me will be ten times
the "tens" digit, plus one times the "units" digit. In other words:

original number: 10t + 1u

The new number has the values of the digits (represented by the variables) in
reverse order. This gives me:

new number: 10u + 1t

And this new number is twenty-seven more than the original number. The keyword
"is" means "equals", so I get:

(new number) is (old number) increased by (twenty-seven)

10u + 1t = (10t + 1u) + 27

Now I have a system of equations that I can solve:

t+u=7

10u + t = 10t + u + 27

First I'll simplify the second equation:

10u + t = 10t + u + 27

9u – 9t = 27

u–t=3
After reordering the variables in the first equation, I now have:

u+t=7

u–t=3

Adding down, I get:

2u = 10

u=5

Then t = 2. Back-solving, this means that the original number was 25 and the new
number (gotten by switching the digits) is 52. Since 52 – 25 = 27, this solution
checks out.

The number is 25.

A passenger jet took three hours to fly 1800 miles in the direction of
the jetstream. The return trip against the jetstream took four hours.
What was the jet's speed in still air and the jetstream's speed?
Solution:
I'll pick variables and set up a system. In this case, I'll use:

plane's speedometer: p

windspeed: w

When the plane is going "with" the wind, the plane's powered speed and the
windspeed will add together; when the plane is going "against" the wind, the
windspeed will be subtracted from the plane's speedometer reading (that is, from
the engines' actual output).

In each case, the "distance" equation will be "(the combined speed) times (the time
spent at that speed) equals (the total distance travelled)":

with the jetstream: (p + w)(3) = 1800

against the jetstream: (p – w)(4) = 1800

Rather than multiply through, I notice that, if I divide off the 3 and the 4, I'll have a
system that's already set for solving by addition:

p + w = 600

p – w = 450

Then, by adding down, I get:

2p = 1050

p = 525

Back-solving, I see that the windspeed w must be 75 mph.

jet's speed: 525 mph

windspeed: 75 mph

The sum of two numbers is 25. One of the numbers exceeds the other by 9.
Find the numbers.

Solution:
Then the other number = x + 9

Let the number be x.

Sum of two numbers = 25

According to question, x + x + 9 = 25

⇒ 2x + 9 = 25

⇒ 2x = 25 - 9 (transposing 9 to the R.H.S changes to -9)

⇒ 2x = 16

⇒ 2x/2 = 16/2 (divide by 2 on both the sides)

⇒x=8

Therefore, x + 9 = 8 + 9 = 17

Therefore, the two numbers are 8 and 17.