Bradley and Ryan are having a contest to see who can collect the most bumper stickers. Bradley started with 23 bumper stickers and plans to add 4 each month. Ryan has 9 bumper stickers and plans to add 6 each month. After how many months will they have the same number of bumper stickers?
Let's represent the number of months as x.
Bradley: 23 + 4x
Ryan: 9 + 6x
We want to find the value of x when the number of bumper stickers is equal:
23 + 4x = 9 + 6x
Subtracting 4x from both sides:
23 = 9 + 2x
Subtracting 9 from both sides:
14 = 2x
Dividing by 2:
7 = x
So, after 7 months, Bradley and Ryan will have the same number of bumper stickers.