Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

Simple Equations and Inequalities

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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com)

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4 July 2024

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§1 Introduction

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Today, we will delve into the concepts of simple equations, inequalities, and systems of linear equations. Mastering
these topics is crucial for success in the AMC8 and other math competitions.

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§2 Simple Equations

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Simple equations are fundamental algebraic expressions that assert the equality of two quantities. Solving an
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equation involves finding the values of the variables that satisfy the equation.
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§2.1 Properties of Equality
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When solving equations, you can perform the following operations without changing the equality:
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ˆ Adding or subtracting the same value on both sides.

ˆ Multiplying or dividing both sides by the same nonzero value.

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ˆ Simplifying both sides of the equation.

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Example 2.1
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Solve the equation: 2x + 5 = 21.

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Solution.
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Subtract 5 from both sides: 2x = 16.

Divide both sides by 2: x = 8.
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§3 Systems of Linear Equations

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A system of linear equations consists of multiple equations with the same variables. Solving such systems involves
finding values for the variables that satisfy all equations simultaneously.
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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com) — 4 July 2024 Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

§3.1 Methods of Solving Systems of Equations

1. Graphical Method: Plotting the equations and finding their intersection points.

2. Substitution Method: Solving one equation for one variable and substituting the result into the others.

3. Elimination Method: Adding or subtracting equations to eliminate one variable, facilitating the solution

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for the others.

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§3.2 Example Problem: Using Substitution Method

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Example 3.1

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Solve the following system of equations:
2x + 5y = 8

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7x + 3y = −1

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Solution.

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Solve the first equation for x: x = 4 − 52 y.

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Substitute into the second equation: 7(4 − 52 y) + 3y = −1.
Simplify and solve for y: − 29
2 y = −29 → y = 2.

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Substitute y = 2 back into the expression for x: x = −1.
The solution to the system is x = −1, y = 2. io
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§3.3 Example Problem: Using Elimination Method
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Example 3.2
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Solve the system of equations:

x + y = 10
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x−y =4
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Solution.
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Add the equations: 2x = 14.

Solve for x: x = 7.
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Substitute x = 7 into the first equation: y = 3.

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The solution to the system is x = 7, y = 3.

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§3.4 Symmetry
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Example 3.3
Solve the below system.
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
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 a+b+c+d=4
 a+b+c+e=8
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a + b + d + e = 12
a + c + d + e = 16
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b + c + d + e = 20


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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com) — 4 July 2024 Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

Solution.
The key here is to take advantage of the symmetry. If we add up all 5 equations we will have a total of 4 of
each variable on the LHS. On the RHS we will have 4 + 8 + 12 + 16 + 20 = 60. Thus

4(a + b + c + d + e) = 60 ⇔ a + b + c + d + e = 15.

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So then subtracting the first equation from this leaves e on the LHS and 15 − 4 = 11 on the RHS. Subtracting

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this equation from the second equation leaves d on the LHS and 15 − 8 = 7 on the RHS. And thus we continue
on in this way to find that (a, b, c, d, e) = (−5, −1, 3, 7, 11).

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Example 3.4

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The table below displays some of the results of last summer’s Frostbite Falls Fishing Festival, showing how
many contestants caught n fish for various values of n .

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n 0 1 2 3 . . . 13 14 15

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number of contestants who caught n fish 9 5 7 23 . . . 5 2 1
In the newspaper story covering the event, it was reported that

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(a) the winner caught 15 fish;
(b) those who caught 3 or more fish averaged 6 fish each;

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(c) those who caught 12 or fewer fish averaged 5 fish each.
What was the total number of fish caught during the festival?

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Solution. [1]
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Suppose that the number of fish is x and the number of contestants is y. The y − (9 + 5 + 7) = y − 21 fishers
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that caught 3 or more fish caught a total of x − (0 · (9) + 1 · (5) + 2 · (7)) = x − 19 fish. Since they averaged 6
fish,
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6 = x−19
y−21 =⇒ x − 19 = 6y − 126. Similarily, those who caught 12 or fewer fish averaged 5 fish per person, so
x−(13(5)+14(2)+15(1)) x−108
5= y−8 = y−8 =⇒ x − 108 = 5y − 40. Solving the two equation system, we find that y = 175
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and x = 943 , the answer.

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Solution. [2]
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Let f be the total number of fish caught by the contestants who didn’t catch 0, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, or 15 fish
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and let a be the number of contestants who didn’t catch 0, 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, or 15 fish. From (b), we know that
69+f +65+28+15
= 6 =⇒ f = 6a + 9. From (c) we have f +69+14+5 = 5 =⇒ f = 5a + 132. Using these two
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a+31 a+44
equations gets us a = 123. Plug this back into the equation to get f = 747. Thus, the total number of fish
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caught is 5 + 14 + 69 + f + 65 + 28 + 15 = 943
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Problem. In a mathematics contest with ten problems, a student gains 5 points for a correct answer and loses
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2 points for an incorrect answer. If Olivia answered every problem and her score was 29, how many correct
answers did she have?
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(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8 (E) 9

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Problem. Find a + b if a and b satisfy 3a + 7b = 1977 and 5a + b = 2007.

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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com) — 4 July 2024 Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

§4 Simple Inequalities
Inequalities express a relationship where one quantity is not necessarily equal to another, characterized by signs
like <, >, ≤, and ≥.

§4.1 Solving Inequalities

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The process for solving inequalities mirrors that of solving equations, with the critical exception involving the
reversal of the inequality sign when multiplying or dividing by a negative number.

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Example 4.1

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Solve the inequality: −3x + 6 > 0.

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Solution.
Subtract 6 from both sides: −3x > −6.

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Divide by -3 and reverse the inequality: x < 2.

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§4.2 Example Problem: Solving Inequalities

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Example 4.2

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Solve the inequality: 5x − 2 ≤ 3x + 6.
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Solution.
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Subtract 3x from both sides: 2x − 2 ≤ 6.

Add 2 to both sides: 2x ≤ 8.
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Divide by 2: x ≤ 4.
The solution to the inequality is x ≤ 4.
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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com) — 4 July 2024 Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

§5 Assignment
Problem 5.1. Fifteen integers a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . , a15 are arranged in order on a number line. The integers are
equally spaced and have the property that

1 ≤ a1 ≤ 10, 13 ≤ a2 ≤ 20, and 241 ≤ a15 ≤ 250.

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What is the sum of digits of a14 ?
(A) 8 (B) 9 (C) 10 (D) 11 (E) 12

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Problem 5.2. Anna and Bella are celebrating their birthdays together. Five years ago, when Bella turned 6
years old, she received a newborn kitten as a birthday present. Today the sum of the ages of the two children

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and the kitten is 30 years. How many years older than Bella is Anna?
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) 5

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Problem 5.3. Three positive integers are equally spaced on a number line. The middle number is 15, and the
largest number is 4 times the smallest number. What is the smallest of these three numbers?

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(A) 4 (B) 5 (C) 6 (D) 7 (E) 8
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Problem 5.4. Henry the donkey has a very long piece of pasta. He takes a number of bites of pasta, each time
eating 3 inches of pasta from the middle of one piece. In the end, he has 10 pieces of pasta whose total length is
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17 inches. How long, in inches, was the piece of pasta he started with?
(A) 34 (B) 38 (C) 41 (D) 44 (E) 47
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Problem 5.5. How many positive integers can fill the blank in the sentence below?
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“One positive integer is more than twice another, and the sum of the two numbers is 28.”
(A) 6 (B) 7 (C) 8 (D) 9 (E) 10
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Problem 5.6. Four numbers are written in a row. The average of the first two is 21, the average of the middle
two is 26, and the average of the last two is 30. What is the average of the first and last of the numbers?
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(A) 24 (B) 25 (C) 26 (D) 27 (E) 28

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Problem 5.7. How many different real numbers x satisfy the equation
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(x2 − 5)2 = 16?

(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 4 (E) 8

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Charles Yang (quanxinyang@gmail.com) — 4 July 2024 Arithmetic and Pre-Algebra 4

Problem 5.8. What is the area of the triangle formed by the lines y = 5, y = 1 + x, and y = 1 − x?
(A) 4 (B) 8 (C) 10 (D) 12 (E) 16

Problem 5.9. Lailai took five math tests, each worth a maximum of 100 points. Lailai’s score on each test was

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an integer between 0 and 100, inclusive. Laila received the same score on the first four tests, and she received

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a higher score on the last test. Her average score on the five tests was 82. How many values are possible for

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Lailai’s score on the last test?
(A) 4 (B) 5 (C) 9 (D) 10 (E) 18

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Problem 5.10. Starting with some gold coins and some empty treasure chests, I tried to put 9 gold coins in

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each treasure chest, but that left 2 treasure chests empty. So instead I put 6 gold coins in each treasure chest,

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but then I had 3 gold coins left over. How many gold coins did I have?
(A) 9 (B) 27 (C) 45 (D) 63 (E) 81

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Problem 5.11. Suppose a, b, and c are nonzero real numbers, and a + b + c = 0. What are the possible value(s)
a b c abc
for |a|
(A) 0
+ |b| + |c| + |abc|
(B) 1 and − 1
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(C) 2 and − 2
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(D) 0, 2, and − 2 (E) 0, 1, and − 1
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Problem 5.12. On the last day of school, Mrs. Awesome gave jelly beans to her class. She gave each boy as
many jelly beans as there were boys in the class. She gave each girl as many jelly beans as there were girls in
the class. She brought 400 jelly beans, and when she finished, she had six jelly beans left. There were two more
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boys than girls in her class. How many students were in her class?
(A) 26 (B) 28 (C) 30 (D) 32 (E) 34
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A B A B
Problem 5.13. The letters A, B, C and D represent digits. If + C A and - C A ,what digit does D
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D A A
represent?
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(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8 (E) 9

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Problem 5.14. Hui is an avid reader. She bought a copy of the best seller Math is Beautiful. On the first day,
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Hui read 1/5 of the pages plus 12 more, and on the second day she read 1/4 of the remaining pages plus 15
pages. On the third day she read 1/3 of the remaining pages plus 18 pages. She then realized that there were
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only 62 pages left to read, which she read the next day. How many pages are in this book?
(A) 120 (B) 180 (C) 240 (D) 300 (E) 360