Although I believe it's best to use one variable to solve this question, we can also use two variables
Let's see how that solution would look.

Let x = the amount (in dollars) that ONE employee received
Let y = the amount (in dollars) that ONE owner received

Each owner received 3 times as much as each employee
So, we can write: y = 3x

Last year $48,000 of a certain store's profit was shared by its 2 owners and their 10 employees.
So, the total amount two owners received = y + y = 2y
The total amount 10 employees received = 10x
So, we can write: 10x + 2y = 48,000

At this point, we have the following system of linear equations:
y = 3x
10x + 2y = 48,000

When we solve this system (I'll leave it to you to do this), we get x = 3000 and y = 9000
So, each each OWNER received $9000

Answer: B

Cheers,
Brent

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