Sean spend 15 more minutes than faith on algebra homework. The two students spent 55 minutes in all. How much time did faith spend on her homework?

Gotcha.

We know Sean spent 15 more minutes than Faith.

So, we know this to be true:


Sean = 15 + Faith


We also know that Sean and Faith spent a TOTAL time of 55 minutes on homework.

So, we have this:

Sean + Faith = 55


We can solve for Faith's time spent in homework now since we have two equations.


Here are the two equations we have:

Sean = 15 + Faith

Sean + Faith = 55

To make solving for Faith easier, I'm going to rearrange the second equation to this:

55 = Sean + Faith


Now, we solve the problem.


Sean = 15 + Faith

55 = Sean + Faith

We know what Sean is, he is 15 + Faith.

So, we can plug in 15 + Faith into Sean in the second equation.


55 = 15 + Faith + Faith

Simplify:


55 = 15 + 2Faith

55 - 15 = 15 - 15 + 2Faith

(I subtracted 15 from both sides)

40 = 2Faith

Now, divide by 2 on both sides to get Faith's time.

40 ÷ 2 = 2Faith ÷ 2

20 = Faith



If you have any questions or comments then please post them. Otherwise, good luck, and I hope this was useful!