The theater sells two types of tickets: adult tickets for $17 and child tickets for $14. Last night, the theater sold a total of 238 tickets for a total of $3554. How many adult tickets did the theater sell last night?

74 adult tickets

Step-by-step explanation:

Create a system of equations where a is the number of adult tickets and c is the number of child tickets:

a + c = 238

17a + 14c = 3554

Solve by elimination by multiplying the top equation by -14:

-14a - 14c = -3332

17a + 14c = 3554

Add these together, and solve for a:

3a = 222

a = 74

So, 74 adult tickets were sold last night