text: another math problem.  please help?  i don't understand.....???? an appraiser appraised 3 lots for a total of $60,000.  lot b was appraised for $5,000 more than lot a.  lot c was appraised at $5,000 more than lot b.  how much was lot a appraised for?  my math book says the answer is $15,000.  can someone give me a break down as to how this answer is dirived? ok...no probs.  the best way to tackle this kind of problem is to keep to one variable, that way it ain't a variable if you see what i mean.  let lot a = x, then lot b = x + 5000.  if lot c is 5000 more than lot b then lot c = x + 5000 + 5000  so lot a = x    lot b = x + 5000    lot c = x + 10000  the total of this is 3x + 15,000 and this equals 60,000 so if 3x + 15,000 =60,000   then 3x = 45,000  so x = 15,000 which,as you can see from the above is lot a.  which shows that the book is correct.  to complete the problem b = 15,000 + 5,000 = 20,000                         c = 15,000 + 10,000 = 25,000  25,000 + 20,000 + 15,000 = 60,000 correct!