Question

Gordo ate 3 twinkies and 1 cupcake,

for a total of 750 calories. A cupcake
has twice as many calories as a
twinkie. How many calories are in a
twinkie? How many calories are in a
cupcake?

Answer 1

• twinkie: 150 calories
• cupcake: 300 calories

Explanation:

Given that 3 twinkies and a cupcake have a total of 750 calories, and there are twice as many calories in a cupcake as a twinkie, you want the know the number of calories in each.

Equivalent twinkies

A cupcake has twice as many calories as a twinkie, so may be considered the same as two (2) twinkies for the purpose of counting calories:

3 twinkies + 1 cupcake = 3 twinkies + 2 twinkies

= 5 twinkies = 750 calories

Calories per twinkie

Then the number of calories in a twinkie is ...

750 calories/(5 twinkies) = 150 calories/twinkie

Calories per cupcake

The number of calories in a cupcake is then ...

(2 twinkies/cupcake) × (150 calories/twinkie) = 300 calories/cupcake

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Check

3 twinkies + 1 cupcake = 3(150 cal) + 1(300 cal) = 450 +300 cal = 750 cal.