Question

A minor league baseball team plays 80 games in a season. If the team won 17 more than twice as many games as they lost, how many wins and losses did the team have?How many games did the team lose?

Answer 1

We know that

• There are 80 games in total.

,

• The team won 17 more than twice as they lost.

Each statement can be expressed as an equation.

$w+l=80$

Because there are 80 games in total.

$w=17+2l$

Now, we replace the second equation in the first one.

$17+2l+l=80$

We solve for l

$\begin{gathered} 17+3l=80 \\ 3l=80-17 \\ l=\frac{63}{3}=21 \end{gathered}$

Therefore, the team lost 21 games.

We use this value to find the games they won.

$w=17+2(21)=17+42=59$

Therefore, the team won 59 games.