Modeling with Equations

1. The manager at a wholesale outlet earns $560 more per month than the assistant manager. If their combined salary is $4380 per month, what is the salary of each?  solution

2. Sam's commission for June was $18 more than half of his commission for July, and his total commission for the two months was $561. Find his commission for each month.  solution

3. A square plot of land has a building 60 feet long and 40 feet wide at one corner. The rest of the land outside the building forms a parking lot. If the parking lot has an area of 12000 square feet, what are the dimensions of the entire plot of land? solution

4. Sam paints with watercolors on a sheet of paper 20 inches wide by 15 inches high. He then places this sheet on a mat so that a uniformly wide strip of the mat shows all the way around the picture. The perimeter of the mat is 102 inches. How wide is the strip of the mat showing around the picture?  solution