Question

Lauren is planning a catered dinner party for her parents' anniversary with a dinner budget of $288. She has selected two options: a chicken dinner that costs $9 per plate and a steak dinner that costs $12 per plate. Lauren is working on the guest list and must also determine how many of each meal to order. Let x represent the number of chicken dinners and let y represent the number of steak dinners. Complete the equation that represents this situation. Make sure that you write the coefficient first, then the variable. For example 3 times x should be entered 3x and 5 times y should be entered 5y.

Answer 1

The equation representing the budget for the catered dinner with chicken dinners at $9 each and steak dinners at $12 each, with a total budget of $288, is 9x + 12y ≤ 288, where x is the number of chicken dinners and y is the number of steak dinners.

Step-by-step explanation:

Lauren is planning a catered dinner party with a budget of $288 and needs to determine the number of chicken dinners ($9 each) and steak dinners ($12 each) to order. Let x represent the number of chicken dinners and y represent the number of steak dinners. The equation that represents this situation will reflect the total cost of the dinners not exceeding the budget Lauren has.

To determine the equation, we multiply the number of chicken dinners by their cost and add it to the product of the number of steak dinners and their cost, which should be less than or equal to her budget. Thus, the equation is:

9x + 12y ≤ 288

This equation will allow Lauren to explore various combinations of chicken and steak dinner orders without going over her budget.

Answer 2

To represent the situation described, we can create an equation based on the cost per plate and the number of plates for each dinner option.

Let's assume that Lauren orders x chicken dinners and y steak dinners.

The cost per plate for the chicken dinner is $9, so the total cost for the chicken dinners would be 9x.

The cost per plate for the steak dinner is $12, so the total cost for the steak dinners would be 12y.

Since Lauren's dinner budget is $288, the equation representing the situation would be:

9x + 12y = 288

In this equation, the coefficient 9 represents the cost per plate for the chicken dinner, and the coefficient 12 represents the cost per plate for the steak dinner. The variables x and y represent the number of chicken and steak dinners, respectively.

By solving this equation, Lauren can determine the combination of chicken and steak dinners that would fit within her budget.

Step-by-step explanation: