Question

Meghan has $20 to spend. She spent $3.25 (including tax) to buy a notebook. She needs to save $9.75, but she wants to buy a snack. If bags of trail mix cost $1.75 per package (including tax), what inequality would show the maximum number of packages that Meghan can buy?

Answer 1

After spending $3.25 on a notebook and saving $9.75, Meghan has $7 left for trail mix. Since each package costs $1.75, the inequality $1.75x ≤ $7 shows that Meghan can buy up to 4 packages of trail mix.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve the problem of how many packages of trail mix Meghan can buy after purchasing a notebook and saving a certain amount of money, we must set up an inequality. Initially, Meghan has $20. After buying a notebook for $3.25, she is left with $20 - $3.25 = $16.75. She needs to save $9.75, which leaves her with $16.75 - $9.75 = $7 to spend on trail mix.

Let's denote the number of trail mix packages as x. Each package costs $1.75, so the total cost for x packages would be $1.75x. Since Meghan can spend a maximum of $7 on trail mix, the inequality will be
$1.75x ≤ $7.

To find the maximum number of trail mix packages Meghan can buy, we now divide both sides of the inequality by $1.75:

x ≤ $7 / $1.75

x ≤ 4

Therefore, Meghan can buy up to 4 packages of trail mix.