Question

Last week, Sherry bought 13 shirts and 12 hats for a total of $176.

Today, Sherry bought 6 shirts and 12 hats for a total of $120.
Assuming neither item has changed in price, what is the cost of a shirt in dollars?

Answer 1

Cost of one shirt = $8

Explanation:

We can find the cost of a shirt using a system of equations.

Our two equations are 13S + 12H = 176 and 6S + 12H = 120, where S represents the cost of shirts and H represents the cost of hats.

Elimination is the easiest method to solve:

`13S+12H=176\\6S+12H=120\\\\-1(13S+12H=176)\\\\-13S-12H=-176\\6S+12H=120\\-7S=-56\\\\S=8`