Final answer:
To solve this problem, you can set up a system of equations. The jar contains 38 quarters and 15 nickels.
Step-by-step explanation:
To solve this problem, we can set up a system of equations. Let's define the number of quarters as 'q' and the number of nickels as 'n'.
We know that the total number of coins is 53, so we have the equation:
q + n = 53
We also know that the total value of the coins is $10.25, which can be expressed as:
0.25q + 0.05n = 10.25
We can now solve this system of equations to find the values of 'q' and 'n'.
First, we can multiply the first equation by 0.05 to make the coefficients of 'q' and 'n' match:
0.05q + 0.05n = 2.65
Next, we can subtract this equation from the second equation:
0.25q + 0.05n - (0.05q + 0.05n) = 10.25 - 2.65
0.2q = 7.6
Dividing both sides by 0.2, we get:
q = 38
Substituting this value of 'q' into the first equation, we can solve for 'n':
38 + n = 53
n = 15
Therefore, the jar contains 38 quarters and 15 nickels.