1.5b + 0.75b represents the total amount of nuts and dried fruit used for b bags of snack mix.
b is the number of bags of snack mix, so the expression 1.5b means 1.5 multiplied by b, which is the total amount of nuts used for b bags of snack mix. Similarly, 0.75b is 0.75 multiplied by b, which is the total amount of dried fruit used for b bags of snack mix.
Adding these together gives us 1.5b + 0.75b, which is the total amount of nuts and dried fruit used for b bags of snack mix.