Final answer:
To solve the problem, we represented Mary's total original amount of money as M. We used the fact that Mary spent 3/4 of her money on a jacket and the jacket costs $33 more than the shirt to create an equation and solve for M. Finally, we calculated that the jacket cost Mary $36.
Step-by-step explanation:
Let's denote Mary's total original amount of money as M. When Mary spent 3/4 of her money on a jacket, she was left with 1/4 of her money, which is (1/4)M. She then spent 1/4 of the remainder on a shirt, which comes out to (1/4)*(1/4)M or (1/16)M. The problem states that the jacket cost $33 more than the shirt. If the cost of the shirt is represented as (1/16)M, the cost of the jacket can be reresented as (1/16)M + $33.
Since she spent 3/4 of her money on the jacket, this cost is also equal to (3/4)M. Therefore, we can set up the equation:
(3/4)M = (1/16)M + $33
Now, let's solve for M:
(3/4)M - (1/16)M = $33
(12/16)M - (1/16)M = $33
(11/16)M = $33
M = $33 / (11/16)
M = $33 * (16/11)
M = $48
Now that we have M, the total original amount of money, we can calculate the cost of the jacket, which is (3/4)M:
(3/4) * $48 = $36
Therefore, the jacket cost $36.