Final answer:
The cafeteria collected $2,909.64 from the sales of spaghetti, sandwiches, and meatloaf.
Step-by-step explanation:
The calculation first determined the number of students who purchased each food item by finding the percentages of students buying spaghetti and sandwiches, leaving the rest to buy meatloaf. It was established that 371 students bought spaghetti, 742 bought sandwiches, and the remaining 371 students purchased meatloaf out of a total of 1,484 students. The computation for the total money collected involved multiplying the number of students buying each item by its respective price: $2.35 for spaghetti, $1.75 for sandwiches, and $1.99 for meatloaf. Multiplying the quantities purchased by their prices and summing these values resulted in the total money collected by the cafeteria.
The breakdown of the calculation is as follows: 371 students bought spaghetti, generating $871.85 in sales; 742 students bought sandwiches, resulting in $1,299.50 in sales; and 371 students purchased meatloaf, leading to $738.29 in sales. The sum of these amounts, $871.85 + $1,299.50 + $738.29, gave the total revenue of $2,909.64 collected by the cafeteria from the sales of these three food items. This detailed method outlines the calculation steps and provides a comprehensive understanding of how the total amount was computed based on the quantities sold and their respective prices.