word problem 5th grade heeeellllpppp! :)

L

ldav91

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Apr 25, 2013
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Ken, James, and Ethan shared 240 stickers. Ken received twice as many stickers as James. James received 3 times as many stickers as Ethan. How many stickers did Ken receive?Please show work! Thanks so.much im stumped.
 
I would begin by defining some variables:

K = number of stickers received by Ken

J = number of stickers received by James

E = number of stickers received by Ethan

Now, what does the statement "Ken, James, and Ethan shared 240 stickers" tell you about the sum of K, J and E?

What does the statement "Ken received twice as many stickers as James" tell you about the relationship between K and J?

What does the statement "James received 3 times as many stickers as Ethan" tell you about the relationship between J and E?

Using these relationships, you can obtain a single equation in K, which you can then solve.
 
Idk how to form the equation......im a parent helping a child with homework n i cant remember math...
 
I asked:

Now, what does the statement "Ken, James, and Ethan shared 240 stickers" tell you about the sum of K, J and E?
Click to expand...

The sum of K, J and E is:

K + J + E

What must this be equal to?
 
Good, we now have:

K + J + E = 240

Next, we have:

What does the statement "Ken received twice as many stickers as James" tell you about the relationship between K and J?
Click to expand...

If we double J, we have K...or equivalently, if we halve K, we have J...can you write this as an equation?
 
Yes, and you don't need the parentheses as 2J implies 2 times J. Now, solve this for J, so you can replace J in terms of K in your summation equation.
 
No, J = K/2...and so now we have:

K + K/2 + E = 240

Now we need to get E in terms of K, and we are given a way to get E in terms of J, and then we can use J = K/2 to wind up with E in terms of K. Can you attempt this?
 
Haha, yeah I'm calling the same thing, on this one. But not a bad play from a fifth grader, eh!
 
My thoughts:

The 91 attached to the username suggests the user is 21-22 years old, and the question suggests the user is taking a remedial math class at a college/university. This is not a normal 5th grade problem, IMHO.

The "text-speak" fits nicely with this age, but...parent helping child or not, in either case it is better to help the OP work the problem than give the answer, this way if the OP is a student as I suspect, knowledge is gained for future courses, or it the OP is a parent helping a child, this parent can then instruct their child on how to work the problem rather than just give them an answer. Either way someone wins. :D
 
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