Question

An animal shelter spends $2.35 per day to care for each cat and $5.50 per day to care for each dog. Pat noticed that the shelter spent $89.50 caring for cats and dogs on Wednesday.

Write an equation to represent the possible numbers of cats and dogs that could have been at the shelter on Wednesday.

Answer 1

2.35c+5.50d=89.5
Since the cats cost $2.35, substitute c for cats and multiply by 2.35 to find the amount spent for a given amount of cats. Dogs cost $5.50, which is where 5.50 d c0mes from. Since you're looking for a total, you would add the two variables. Then, since you're given a total of 89.50, you set the equation equal to that total.

Answer 2

2.35c+5.50d=89.50 (filling in space due to short answer)