Unit 6 · Algebra

Two Reading Rates — How Long Is the Book?

Lesson 8 of 24

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About this lesson

Reading-plan questions are hidden equations: two different daily rates must cover the same book — write pages = rate × days for each plan and set them equal.

Chapters

0:00Introduction
0:22The Question
1:01Modeling scenario 1 algebraically
1:32Modeling scenario 2 algebraically
2:07Equating the expressions to solve for days
2:42Calculating the total pages in the book
3:06Exam strategy — the multiplicity remainder shortcut
4:02Confirming the final option

Question

Emma plans to finish reading a book within a fixed period of time. If she reads 20 pages each day, she will have 18 pages left unread. If she reads 5 more pages each day, then she will only need to read 8 pages on the last day. How many pages are there in the book?

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