Ashley and Bernard work at an electronics appliance store. Ashley is paid $200 per week plus 5% of her total sales. Bernard is paid $325 per week plus 2.5% of his total sales. If their weekly pay is same, what is the dollar amount of Ashley’s pay?

Sorry, this question doesn’t work as stated. Let’s talk about why!

Ashley makes $200 + 0.05a, where a is her total sales for the week. Bernard makes $325 + 0.025b, where b is his total sales for the week.

The question tells us to set those equal (“their weekly pay is the same”):

200 + 0.05a = 325 + 0.25b

But that’s one equation with two variables. We need two equations to solve for two variables, and there’s no other information provided that would allow us to write a second equation.

Did the question come with a chart or graph or something that provided more data?