A bag of sweets has orange and red sweets in the ratio 2:3. The number of red sweets is 51. Solomon eats some orange sweets. The ratio changes to 10:17.
How many sweets did Solomon eat?

arrange the equations with like terms in columns.

analyze the coefficients of x or y.

add the equations and solve for the remaining variable.

substitute the value into either equation and solve.

check the solution.

step-by-step explanation:

2x + 8

step-by-step explanation:

step-by-step explanation:

the ratio of red paint to blue paint is always 9/7. that means that, whatever x's value, (4x+12)/(4x-4) has that same ratio. so, set up an equation and cross-multiply to solve for x:

9/7 = (4x+12)/(4x-4)

9(4x-4) = 7(4x+12)

36x - 36 = 28x + 84

8x - 36 = 84

8x = 120

x = 15