The cost of a student ticket is $1 more than half of an adult ticket. Six adults and four student tickets cost $28. What is the cost of one adult ticket?

Let x = the cost of a student ticket. Let y = the cost of an adult ticket. The ?rst sentence that is "The cost of a student ticket is $1 more than half of an adult ticket," provides the equation x = 1 y + 1; the second sentence, "six adults and four student tickets cost $28," provides the equation 6y + 4x = 28. Substitute the ?rst equation within the second for x: 6y + 4( 1 y + 1) = 28. Use the distributive property on the left side of the equation: 6y + 2y + 4 = 28. Combine such as terms: 8y + 4 = 28. Subtract 4 on both sides of the equation: 8y + 4 - 4 = 28 - 4; simplify: 8y = 24. Divide both sides through 8: 8y/8 = 24/8. The variable is now alone: y = 3. The cost of one adult ticket is $3.