While catching fireflies, you and a friend decide to have a competition. after mm minutes, you have (3m+13)(3m+13) fireflies and your friend has (4m+6)(4m+6) fireflies. a. how many fireflies are caught each minute during the competition? 1m+7 fireflies are caught per minute. b. how many fireflies are caught before the competition starts? fireflies are caught before the competition starts.

a. 7 fireflies are caught per minute. b. 19 fireflies were already caught prior to the contest starting. a. Looking at the equations (3m + 13) and (4m + 6) where m is equal to the number of minutes since the contest began, it's obvious that there are 3+4 = 7 fireflies caught per minute. b. One again, look at the two equations. Or for that matter, calculate them both and add the results for m=0 (the moment the contest began). And upon doing so, you'll see that 13 + 6 = 19 fireflies were caught prior to the competition starting.