Question

The cost of either a can of gourmet chilli or a can of hearty soup is $1.75. Ton Nam bought cans of chilli and soup. He wrote an expression to describe the purchase where c represents the number of cans of chilli and s represents the number of cans of soup. Write that expression using the distributive property.

Answer 1

Ton Nam's purchase can be represented by the expression 1.75(c + s), using the distributive property, where c is the cans of chilli and s is the cans of soup.

Step-by-step explanation:

Ton Nam's purchase is aptly expressed using the distributive property as 1.75(c + s), where c represents the number of cans of gourmet chili, and s represents the number of cans of hearty soup, both priced at $1.75 each. This expression effectively distributes the cost by multiplying the shared unit price of $1.75 by the sum of the variables representing the cans. The distributive property simplifies the calculation, allowing for a straightforward determination of the overall cost based on the quantities of chili and soup purchased. For instance, if Ton Nam were to buy 3 cans of chili (c = 3) and 2 cans of soup (s = 2), the total cost would be 1.75(3 + 2) = 1.75(5) = $8.75. This mathematical representation demonstrates the applicability of the distributive property in efficiently calculating the total cost of mixed purchases at a consistent unit price.