Celeste wants to have her hair cut and permed and also go to lunch. She knows she will need $86. The perm costs twice as much as her haircut and she needs $5 for lunch. How much does the perm cost?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Let haircut be represented by the letter h.
Perm = 2 times haircut so perm = 2h
Haircut + perm + lunch = 86 (writing out in words can sometimes help)
2h + h + 5 = 86 (replace with letters)
3h + 5 = 86 (simplify)
3h = 81 (subtract 5 from each side)
h = 27 (divide both sides by 3)
A haircut costs $27, so a perm costs $54