Question

Estelle is making 30 pounds of fruit salad from strawberries and blueberries. Strawberries cost $1.80 per pound, and blueberries cost $4.50 per pound. If Estelle wants the fruit salad to cost her $2.52 per pound, how many pounds of each berry should she use?

Answer 1

Answer: The answer is 22 pounds of Strawberries and 8 pounds of blueberries.

Step-by-step explanation: Let, Estelle should 'x' pounds of Strawberries and 'y' pounds of Blueberries in the fruit salad. Then according to the question, we have

`x+y=30.`

Also, Strawberries cost $1.80per pound and Blueberries cost $4.50per pound, so we can write

`1.80x+4.50y=30* 2.52\\\\\Rightarrow (9)/(5)x+(9)/(2)y=(3* 126)/(5)\\\\\Rightarrow (1)/(5)x+(1)/(2)y=(42)/(5)\\\\\Rightarrow (2x+5y)/(10)=(42)/(5)\\\\\Rightarrow 2x+5y=84.`

From the first equation, we get

`2x+2y=60.`

Therefore, taking the difference of the above two equations, we have

`5y-2y=84-60\\\\\Rightarrow 3y=24\\\\\Rightarrow y=8,`

and

`x=30-8=22.`

Thus, Estelle should use 22 pounds of Strawberries and 8 pounds of Blueberries in the fruit salad.