Answer: The number of adult tickets sold is 168.
Step-by-step explanation: Given that the Jillian's school is selling tickets for a play. The tickets cost $10.50 for adults and $3.75 for students.
The ticket sales for opening night totaled $2071.50. The equation representing the situation is
[tex]10.50a+3.75b=2071.50~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(i)[/tex]
where a is the number of adult tickets sold and b is the number of student tickets sold.
We are to calculate the number of adult tickets that were sold.
If 82 students attended, then b = 82.
Substituting the value of b in equation (i), we get
[tex]10.50a+3.75b=2071.50\\\\\Rightarrow10.50a+3.75(82)=2071.50\\\\\Rightarrow10.50a+307.5=2071.50\\\\\Rightarrow10.50a=2071.50-307.5\\\\\Rightarrow10.50a=1764\\\\\Rightarrow a=\dfrac{1764}{10.50}\\\\\Rightarrow a=168[/tex]
Thus, the number of adult tickets sold is 168.