Example

Solving a Movie Theater Ticket Mixture Application

Apply the system of equations method to solve a ticket mixture application.

Problem: The box office at a movie theater sold 147147 tickets for the evening show, and receipts totaled $1,302\$1{,}302. How many $11\$11 adult and how many $8\$8 child tickets were sold?

  1. Name the unknowns. Let a=a = the number of adult tickets and c=c = the number of child tickets.
  2. Translate into a system of equations.
  • The total number of tickets sold is 147147: a+c=147a + c = 147
  • The total value of adult tickets is 11a11a and the total value of child tickets is 8c8c. The total receipts are $1,302\$1{,}302: 11a+8c=1,30211a + 8c = 1{,}302

The system of equations is: a+c=147a + c = 147 11a+8c=1,30211a + 8c = 1{,}302

  1. Solve the system using the elimination method. Multiply the first equation by 8-8: 8(a+c)=8(147)-8(a + c) = -8(147) 8a8c=1,176-8a - 8c = -1{,}176

Add this to the second equation: 11a+8c=1,30211a + 8c = 1{,}302 3a=1263a = 126 a=42a = 42

Substitute a=42a = 42 into the first equation: 42+c=14742 + c = 147 c=105c = 105

  1. Check the result. 4242 adult tickets at $11\$11 each is $462\$462. 105105 child tickets at $8\$8 each is $840\$840. 462+840=1,302462 + 840 = 1{,}302 \checkmark

  2. Answer the question. The movie theater sold 4242 adult tickets and 105105 child tickets.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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