Question

Marti has a jar of 161 coins consisting of pennies and nickels. The total value of the coins is $3.09. How many nickels does Marti have in the jar

Answer 1

I think it is 18

nickels for $3.09

Answer 2

Okay, so there are nickels and pennies in this jar.

So, let's call the number of pennies X

Since there are 161 coins altogether, the number of nickels is (161 - X)

So now we solve the equation:

.01X + .05(161 - X) = 3.09

.01X + 8.05 - .05X = 3. 09

4.96 = .04X

124 = X

So, there are 124 pennies

Therefore, there are 161 - 124 = 37 nickels

Let's check our answer:

124 x .01 + 37x .05 = 1.24 + 1.85 = 3.09

It works!