Three of Santa's helpers are a combined 12 feet and 2 inches Andrew is 17 in shorter than Dylan who is 8 inches taller than Sean how tall are the three helpers?

Answer 1

This is actually an algebra question! First, convert the total height of all three helpers to inches. 12 feet and 2 inches = 144 + 2 = 146 inches. Now you need to set up an equation to solve so you can find the heights of each helper. Start with Sean. Call his height in inches x. If Dylan is 8 inches taller than Sean, then Dylan is (x + 8) inches tall. If Andrew is 17 inches shorter than Dylan, then Andrew is (x + 8) - 17 inches tall, which can be simplified to (x - 9). Now that you have three expressions in terms of one unknown, x, you can add them all together and set them equal to the total height of all three helpers, which is 146 inches. So here's the equation: x + (x + 8) + (x - 9) = 146. Combine x terms on the left and constants on the right: 3x = 147. Divide both sides by 3: x = 49. But you're not done yet! Now that you know what x is, you can substitute it back into the expressions for each person's height in terms of x. That means Sean is x = 49 inches tall (or 4 feet, 1 inch), Dylan is x + 8 = 49 + 8 = 57 inches tall (or 4 feet, 9 inches), and Andrew is x - 9 = 49 - 9 = 40 inches tall (or 3 feet, 4 inches). You can check your answer, always a good idea, by adding the total inches of all three helpers and making sure it adds up to 146: 49 + 57 + 40 = 146. And it does!