Solution:
we are given that
Satoshi and reginald together have 46 bottlecaps.
Let satoshi have x bottlecaps and reginald has y caps.
Then [tex] x+y=46 [/tex]
They were to receive 6 bottle caps each, satoshi would have three times as many bottle caps as reginald.
Then [tex] x+6=3(y+6) [/tex]
Now solve these two equations together we get
[tex] 3(y+6)-6+y=46\\
\\
3y+18-6+y=46\\
\\
4y=46-12\\
\\
4y=34\\
\\
y=8.5\\
\\
x=46-8.5=37.5\\ [/tex]
The bottle caps can not be in fraction. But this is what we get after calculation.
