Question

Norman and Suzanne own 42 shares of a fast food restaurant stock and 60 shares of a toy company stock. At the close of the markets on a particular day in​ 2004, their stock portfolio consisting of these two stocks was worth ​$1719.00. The closing price of the fast food restaurant stock was ​$30 more per share than the closing price of the toy company stock on that day. What was the closing price of each stock on that​ day?

Answer 1

Answer: Restaurant: $34.50; Toy Company: $4.50

Explanation:

Let's represent the situation mathematically. I will use "r" for the restaurant stock price and "t" for the toy company stock price.

`42r+60t=1719` represents the value of their stock portfolio.

`r-t=30` represents that the restaurant stock was worth $30 more than the toy company stock.

We need to multiply the second equation by 60 to balance the terms out. This gets us
`60r-60t=1800`.

Now, you can combine the like terms in these equations to get
`102r+0t=3519`, which can be simplified further to
`102r=3519`.

Now you need to divide both sides by 102 to remove the coefficient, getting you
`r=34.5`. This means that the price of the restaurant stock was $34.50.

To find the toy company stock price, subtract $30 from the restaurant stock price, because the restaurant stock is worth $30 more than the toy company stock. This gets you $4.50.