The larger of two numbers is 5 less than twice the smaller number. The sum of the two numbers is 28. How do you find the two numbers?

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The larger of two numbers is 5 less than twice the smaller number. The sum of the two numbers is 28. How do you find the two numbers?

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Answer 1 · 2016-11-08T10:56:56

The numbers are $11 and 17$

Explanation:

This question can be answered by using either 1 or 2 variables.
I will opt for 1 variable, because the second can be written in terms of the first. Define the numbers and variable first:

Let the smaller number be $x$ .

The larger is "5 less than double $x$ "

The larger number is $2x-5$

The sum of the numbers is 28. Add them to get $28$

$x + 2x-5 = 28" "larr$ now solve the equation for $x$

$3x = 28+5$

$3x = 33$

$x = 11$

The smaller number is $11$ .
The larger is $2xx11-5 = 17$

$11+17 = 28$

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The larger of two numbers is 5 less than twice the smaller number. The sum of the two numbers is 28. How do you find the two numbers?

1 Answer

Explanation:

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