Josh and his friends bought vanilla wafers for $4 per packet and chocolate wafers for $1 per packet at a carnival. They spent a total of $45 to buy a total of 27 packets of wafers of the two varieties.

Question

pumpkin1102 · Answer

How many packets of chocolate wafers and vanilla wafers did they buy? Explain how you got the answer and why you selected a particular method to get the answer.

erak · Answer

If I set up the two equations would you be able to solve it on your own?

pumpkin1102 · Answer

Maybe I would need to see first I am a visual person

erak · Answer

Okay so you're gonna have two variables, let's use x for vanilla, y for chocolate.

This equation is the amount of wafers: x + y = 27
Where some amount of vanilla + chocolate is 27 wafers in total.

The next equation is: 4x + y = 45
This is your dollar equation, because vanilla is $4 per packet and chocolate is $1, and they add up to $45.

pumpkin1102 · Answer

😁

pumpkin1102 · Answer

i don't get it

erak · Answer

Which part? Do you get that x + y = 27 is measured in amount of packets, and 4x + y = 45 is all money?

pumpkin1102 · Answer

yes but, why?

erak · Answer

it's the information you are given and it's the only way you're going to relate money + amounts of wafers. You basically take those two and manipulate them for a variable and substitute them into the other.

pumpkin1102 · Answer

so I use those 2 equations and combine them to make 1 equation?

erak · Answer

Well would you like me to show you how to do it and you try to follow along?

pumpkin1102 · Answer

yes

erak · Answer

When given: x + y = 27 and 4x + y = 45
Solve equation 2 for either variable, doesn't really matter, I'm going with y.

4x + y = 45
y = 45 - 4x

Next, plug this new y value into equation 1 and simplify

x + y = 27
x + 45 - 4x = 27
3x = 18
x = 6

Now that you know x = 6, plug back into either equation to get y.

x + y = 27
6 + y = 27
y = 21

pumpkin1102 · Answer

O I understand it that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be

erak · Answer

Yeah as long as you get it and can do questions similar to this then you're good

pumpkin1102 · Answer

Yeah I had been doing that I guess it was just the question itself that sounded confusing