Bill and Phil are firehouse Dalmatians. Bill has one less than twice as many spots as Phil. If they have 59 spots combined, how many spots does Bill have?
How many spots does Bill have? ** If b is the number of spots Bill has and p is the number of spots Phil has, we know that b + p = 59. We also know that b = 2p - 1.
How many spots does Bill have? ** We can substitute the second equation into the first equation to get: 2p - 1 + p = 59
How many spots does Bill have? ** Combining like terms, we get 3p - 1= 59
How many spots does Bill have? ** Adding 1 to both sides, we get 3p = 60
How many spots does Phil have? ** Dividing both sides by 3, we get p = 20
How many spots does Bill have? ** Substituting this back into the equation b = 2p - 1, we get b = 2*20 - 1 = 40 - 1 = <<2*20-1=39>>39
#### 39