How do you work out this question: a bag of flour is 6 times as heavy as a packet of sugar. the total mass of the flour and sugar is 3612g. what is the mass of the bag of flour?

Hey there! :D

3612= 6s+s

Let s= how heavy the packet of sugar is. Since the flour is 6 times heavier, and they both equal 3612 together, we can set up the equation like that. 

3612= 7s

Divide both sides by 7. 

s= 516

Multiply that by 6 for the mass of the flour. 

516*6= 3096

The mass of the flour if 3096. 

I hope this helps!
~kaikers

Our single variable here is the sugar.So if sugar is x and the flour is 6x if we add them we get 7x because multiplication is repeated addition. So we do 3612/7 and we get 516.