Question

A youth organization collected nickels and dimes for a charity drive. By the end of the 1-day, the youth had collected $70.40. If there were five times as many dimes as nickels, how many each type of coin was collected ?

Answer 1

Let x be the number of dimes collected and y be the number of nickels collected, then we can set the following system of equations:

`\begin{gathered} 0.10x+0.05y=70.40, \\ x=5y\text{.} \end{gathered}`

Substituting the second equation in the first one, and solving for y we get:

`\begin{gathered} 0.10(5y)+0.05y=70.40, \\ 0.50y+0.05y=70.40, \\ 0.55y=70.40, \\ y=128. \end{gathered}`

Substituting y=128 in the second equation we get:

`x=5\cdot128=640.`

Answer: They collected 640 dimes and 128 nickels.