Question

A party rental company has chairs and tables for rent. The total cost to rent 3

chairs and 8 tables is $55. The total cost to rent 5 chairs and 2 tables is $18. What is the cost to rent each chair and each table

Answer 1

• chair: $1.00
• table: $6.50

Explanation:

When you have a non-trivial number of sets of equations to solve, it can be useful to let a machine solve them for you. Here, suitable equations for chair cost (c) and table cost (t) can be written as ...

• 3c+8t = 55
• 5c+2t = 18

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I find a graphing calculator easy to use for solving such equations.

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A spreadsheet programmed with Cramer's Rule can do it, too. The second attachment shows the spreadsheet formulas used to solve the standard-form linear equations of the kind that can be written for this problem. The third attachment shows the solution(s).