MHB Solving word problems using a system of equations (i'm guessing simultaneous).

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the length of a road built with yellow and green bricks, where there are 12,000 yellow bricks and a ratio of 3 yellow bricks for every green brick. It is established that the number of green bricks is 4,000, leading to a total of 16,000 bricks. Each brick measures 500mm x 250mm, equating to 1/8 square meter, which means 8 bricks fit into one square meter. Consequently, the total area covered by the bricks is 2,000 square meters, resulting in a road length of 2,000 meters. The conversation also touches on the need for simultaneous equations to solve the problem, although some participants question the necessity of this approach.
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you are laying the yellow and green brick road. the road is 1m wide and each brick is 500mm x 250mm. there are 3yellow bricks for every green brick. the road will be built with 12000 yellow bricks .how long will the road be?

Let x represent the no of yellow bricks
Let y represent the no of green bricks
I managed to get that x=3y-----equation 1
couldn't work equation 2 even though i could infer that y to be 4000bricks.
the 500mm x250mm brick (i'm thinking 8 of them is needed to fit into a square meter.

please can anyone enlighten me.
thanks
 
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Daps said:
you are laying the yellow and green brick road. the road is 1m wide and each brick is 500mm x 250mm. there are 3yellow bricks for every green brick. the road will be built with 12000 yellow bricks .how long will the road be?

Let x represent the no of yellow bricks
Let y represent the no of green bricks
I managed to get that x=3y-----equation 1
couldn't work equation 2 even though i could infer that y to be 4000bricks.
the 500mm x250mm brick (i'm thinking 8 of them is needed to fit into a square meter.

please can anyone enlighten me.
thanks

12000 yellow + 4000 green = 16000 bricks total

8 bricks for every square meter

16000/8 = 2000 square meters = 1 meter x 2000 meters
 
skeeter, thanks for your take on this question.sorry how did you work out they are suppose to have 8 bricks to fit in 1 square meter.

secondly what are the systems of equations (probably 2 equations).needed here.

Thanks replies are welcomed from everybody.
 
given brick dimensions ...

500mm x 250mm = 0.5 m x 0.25 = 1/2 m x 1/4 m = 1/8 square meter

8 bricks x 1/8 square meter per brick = 1 square metersimultaneous equations? why make it more difficult?
 
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