Carl worked three more than twice as many hours as Cindy did. What is the maximum amount of hours Cindy worked if together they worked 48 hours at most?

Let x = the amount of hours Cindy worked. Let 2x + 3 = the amount of hours Carl worked. Because the total hours added together was at most 48, the inequality would be (x) + (2x + 3) ≤ 48. merge such as terms on the left side of the inequality: 3x + 3 ≤ 48. Subtract 3 from both sides of the inequality: 3x + 3 - 3 ≤ 48 - 3; simplify: 3x ≤ 45. Divide both sides of the inequality by 3: 3x/3 ≤ 45/3; the variable is now alone: x ≤ 15. The maximum amount of hours Cindy worked was 15.