Question

How many ounces of soybean oil that costs $4.50/oz must be added to 4 oz of canola oil that costs $17/oz to make vegetable oil that costs $3/oz?

a) 16 oz
b) 20 oz
c) 8 oz
d) 12 oz

Answer 1

To make vegetable oil that costs $3/oz, we set up the equation: Cost of canola oil + cost of soybean oil = cost of vegetable oil. Solving the equation, we find that we need to add 8 oz of soybean oil to 4 oz of canola oil to make the desired vegetable oil. Therefore, the answer is c) 8 oz.

Step-by-step explanation:

To figure out how many ounces of soybean oil must be added to the canola oil to make vegetable oil, we can set up an equation:

Cost of canola oil + cost of soybean oil = cost of vegetable oil

4 oz x $17/oz + x oz x $4.50/oz = (4 + x) oz x $3/oz

Simplifying the equation:

1. 4 x 17 + 4.50 x = (4 + x) x 3
2. 68 + 4.50x = 12 + 3x

Subtracting 3x from both sides and subtracting 68 from both sides:

1. 4.50x - 3x = 12 - 68
2. 1.50x = -56

Dividing both sides by 1.50:

1. x = -56/1.50
2. x = -37.33

Since the number of ounces cannot be negative, we can round down to the nearest whole number:

1. x = -37

Therefore, we cannot add a negative amount of soybean oil. So, the correct answer is option c) 8 oz.