Sophie, Jonah, and Chase have a total of $89 in their wallets. Sophie has $6 less than Chase and Jonah has 3 times what Chase has. How much does each person have?

So first you need to find a formula for who has what!

Because nobody said what chase had, chase is our variable!

Chase = x
Sophie = x-6 (six less than Chase so subtraction)
Jonah = x•3 (three times the amount of Chase)

Now you will put all of this in an equation- adding everybody together! The total is 89 so that will be what’s after the equal sign!

Your equation: x+x-6+x•3=89

First you will use PEMDAS, since there are no parentheses or exponents- you’ll do multiplication first!

x+x-6+(x•3)=89
When you multiply that out, you will be left with: x+x-6+3x=89

Second you will add all common terms! Remember- the 3x means there are THREE x’s in that one spot. Take out all x’s in the equation and add them together!

x+x+3x=5x

Now you are left with:
5x-6=89

Now you will solve this like a regular equation! First, you have to move the -6 to the right so you will do the inverse operation (the opposite sign) and add 6 to both sides! 89+6 is 95 and -6+6 is 0, so the 6 on the left cancels out and isn’t there anymore!

Now you have 5x=95. To get the x by itself, you will divide both sides by 5! (Once again, doing the inverse operation! Since 5 and x are being multiplied, you have to divide.)

When you divide, you are left with x=19. In this question, the answer is:

Each person has $19.