Step 1: Read the problem.
- Determine the types of tickets involved.
There are student tickets and adult tickets.
- Create a table to organize the information.
| Type |
Number |
Value ($ ) |
Total Value ($ ) |
| Student |
|
6 |
|
| Adult |
|
9 |
|
|
1,506 |
|
|
Step 2. Identify what you are looking for.
We are looking for the number of student and adult tickets.
Step 3. Name. Represent the number of each type of ticket using variables.
We know the number of adult tickets sold was5less than three times the number of student tickets sold.
Letsbe the number of student tickets.
Then3s−5is the number of adult tickets.
Multiply the number times the value to get the total value of each type of ticket.
| Type |
Number |
Value ($ ) |
Total Value ($ ) |
| Student |
s |
6 |
6s |
| Adult |
3s−5 |
9 |
9(3s−5) |
|
1,506 |
|
|
Step 4. Translate: Write the equation by adding the total values of each type of ticket.
6s+9(3s−5)=1506
Step 5. Solve the equation.
6s+27s−45=150633s−45=150633s=1551s=47students
Substitute to find the number of adults.

Step 6. Check. There were 47 student tickets at $6 each and 136 adult tickets at $9 each. Is the total value $1506? We find the total value of each type of ticket by multiplying the number of tickets times its value; we then add to get the total value of all the tickets sold.
47⋅6136⋅9==282_____12241506✓
Step 7. Answer the question. They sold 47 student tickets and 136 adult tickets.