Final answer:
To find the maximum number of tubes of paint Catherine can buy, subtract the amount spent on canvas from $54 and divide by the cost of one tube, giving us a maximum of 4 tubes.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find out the maximum number of tubes of paint Catherine can buy, we need to determine the amount of money she plans to spend on paints. We know that Catherine has $54 and plans to spend more than $20 on a painting canvas. Therefore, the amount she will spend on paints can be calculated as the difference between $54 and the amount spent on the canvas. Let's denote the amount spent on the canvas as 'C'.
The equation for the amount spent on paints is $54 - C. We are also given that each tube of paint costs $8.50, so the number of tubes Catherine can buy, represented by 'x', is obtained by dividing the amount spent on paints by the cost of one tube, giving us the equation:
x = ($54 - C) / $8.50
Since the maximum value we can have for 'x' is a whole number, we need to determine the largest possible value of 'C' that still satisfies the condition. Since Catherine plans to spend more than $20 on a canvas, 'C' must be greater than $20. Therefore, if we plug in the value of 'C' as $20, we can calculate the maximum number of tubes of paint Catherine can buy:
x = ($54 - $20) / $8.50 = $34 / $8.50 = 4
So the maximum number of tubes of paint Catherine can buy is 4.