I would start this problem by setting up a chart.
Chart is shown below.
This chart will be based on the interest formula which is below.
Amount Invested · Rate = Interest Earned
Down the left side of the chart, we have the
two different types of investments that Sam
makes, the 6% investment and the 10% investment.
For the amount invested column, we know that Sam invested
$48,000 but we don't know how much Sam invested at each rate.
So we use x and 48,000 - x to represent the
amount Sam invested at each rate.
For the rate column, we translate our two percentages
to decimal form so 6% becomes .06 and 10% becomes .10.
Remember that 6% means 6/100 or .06.
Based on our formula, we can multiply the first two
columns in our chart together to fill out the third column.
So we have x times .14 or which is .14x and
48000 - x times .10 or .10(48000 - x).
Reading through the last part of the problem, we know that Sam
earned a total of $4,000 in interest for the year.
So if we add up the two amounts of interest that Sam
earned at each rate, we will get a total of 4000.
Setting up our equation, we have .06 +.10(48000 - x) = 4000.
Solving from here, we first get rid of the decimals by
multiplying each side of the equation by 100.
This gives us 6x + 10(48000 - x) = 400000.
Eventually we find that x = 20000.
So Sam invested $20000 at 6% interest.
The amount he invested at 10% is 48000 - x
which is 48000 - 20000 or $28,000.