The final amount of money was $50, they spent half of what they collected on canned foods, so 50 x 2 = 100. They collected a total of $100.Let the amount Eric collected = XCharlotte collected 3 times as much minus $20, writing this as an equation you get 3x-20.Now you have Eric plus Charlotte = $100:x + 3x-20 = 100Combine like terms:4x-20 = 100Add 20 to both sides:4x = 120Divide both sides by 4:x = 120/4x = 30Eric = X = $30Charlotte = 3x-20 = 3(30) - 20 = 90 -20 = $70