Question

At the school store, notebooks cost $3 each and packs of markers cost $3 each. You buy x notebooks and 4 packs of markers. The two expressions below represent how much money you spent at the school store. 3(x + 4) 3x + 12 a. Explain what (x + 4) represents in context

of the situation. b. Explain what 3x represents in context of the situation.

Answer 1

In the context of the situation, (x + 4) represents the total number of items bought, with 'x' being the number of notebooks. 3x represents the total cost for x notebooks at $3 each. The $12 in the expression 3x + 12 accounts for the 4 packs of markers purchased.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given situation, the expression (x + 4) represents the total number of items (notebooks and packs of markers) you are purchasing from the school store. Here, 'x' is the number of notebooks and the constant '4' represents the 4 packs of markers you are buying. Hence, when you multiply this expression by 3 (the cost of each item in dollars), you get the total cost.

The term 3x represents the total cost for the notebooks only. Since each notebook costs $3, you multiply the number of notebooks (x) by 3 to get the cost for all the notebooks. The additional 12 in the expression 3x + 12 is the total cost for the 4 packs of markers, as each pack costs $3 and there are 4 packs (3 dollars each × 4 packs = $12).