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? asked in Science & MathematicsMathematics · 1 decade ago

Brain Twister for people who are good at math?

Lakers and Celtics played an extra long, high-scoring game of basketball. If 6 of the goals scored by Celtics were instead scored by Lakers, the game would have been tied. But if 6 of the goals scored by Lakers were instead scored by Celtics, Celtics would have 4 times as many goals as Lakers. How many goals did Lost Desert score in this game?

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  • 1 decade ago
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    The Lakers scored 4 goals.

    If you set up a system of equations where:

    C = number of Celtic goals scored

    L = number of Laker goals scored

    C = L + 6 --------> in the tie game

    C + 6 = 4L --------> in the 4x loss by the Lakers

    Solve the second equation by subtracting 6 to get C = 4L-6.

    Plug this value (4L-6) into the other equation to get:

    4L-6 = L +6 [add 6]

    4L = L +12 [subtract L]

    3L = 12 [divide by 3]

    L = 4 -----> so, the Lakers scored 4 goals!

    If you're curious as to how many goals the Celtics scored, just plug in L's value (4) into either of the original equations:

    C = L + 6

    C = 4 +6

    C = 10 goals

    -OR-

    C + 6 = 4L

    C + 6 = 4(4)

    C + 6 = 16 [subtract 6]

    C = 10 goals

    Well, those are the answers. But the Celtics and Lakers only scoring 10 and 4 points, respectively, seems awfully low for such an "extra long, high-scoring game"!

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