Expert: Scott A Wilson - 11/21/2010

Question
a bus is chartered for a tour at a cost of $24000. when 4 additional people join the tour,the fare per person is decreased by $200. how many people were originally going to charter the bus?

Answer
So there are n people, paying p each, and np = 24,000.
If n+4 people ride, the price goes down by 200, with the same return,
so it is (n+4)(p-200) = 24,000.

The gives two equations, np = 24,000 and (n+4)(p-200) = 24,000.
The first one can be solved for n, giving n = 24,000/p.
Put this into the second equation and multiply out.
Subtract 24,000 from both sides and the factor.

If factoring is not obvious, use the quadratic equation to find p.

The value of p will be the number of people
that orinally road the bus.