The local zoo is filling two water tanks for the elephant exhibit. One water tank contains 50 gal of water and is
filled at a constant rate of 10 gal/h. The second water
tank contains 29 gals of water and is filled at a constant
rate of 3 gal/h. When will the two tanks have the same
amount of water? Explain.
Step 1: Write a system of equations, let x= the number
of hours the tanks are filling and let y= the number of
gallons in the tank.
Step 2: The system is easy to solve using substitution.
Substitute the one equation for y into the second
equations and solve for x
Step 3: Substitute the answer for x in either equation
and solve for y.