Question

Troy and Lisa were shopping for school supplies. Each purchased different quantities of the same notebook andthumb drive. Troy bought three notebooks and two thumb drives for $43. Lisa bought three notebooks and threethumb drives for $57. Find the cost of each notebook and each thumb drive.

Answer 1

System of Equations

Let:

x = cost of each notebook.

y = cost of each thumb drive.

Three notebooks and 2 thumb drives cost $43, thus:

3x + 2y = 43

Three notebooks and three thumb drives cost $57, thus:

3x + 3y = 57

Subtracting both equations:

3x - 3x + 3y - 2y = 57 - 43

Simplifying:

y = 14

Substituting into the first equation:

3x + 28 = 43

Subtracting 28:

3x = 15

Dividing by 3:

x = 5

Each notebook cost $5 and each thumb drive cost $14