Final answer:
The equation that models the possible combinations of pounds of chicken and pounds of ground beef for a total of $35 is 3.5x + 2.5y = 35, where x is the pounds of chicken, and y is the pounds of ground beef. Option A is the correct answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the equation that models the possible combinations of pounds of chicken and pounds of ground beef that you can buy for $35, we need to use the given prices for each. One pound of chicken costs $3.50, and we'll denote the pounds of chicken as x. One pound of ground beef costs $2.50, which we'll denote as y.
The total cost for x pounds of chicken and y pounds of ground beef would be the cost of chicken plus the cost of beef, which is given by the equation $3.50x + $2.50y. We want this total to be $35, so the equation modeling the possible combinations is:
3.5x + 2.5y = 35
In standard form, this equation is already correct, and thus, the correct answer is Option A: 3.5x + 2.5y = 35.