Let's denote the amount of ice cream eaten by Ellie as "x" (in arbitrary units).
According to the given information:
- Darla ate half as much as Ellie, so Darla ate (1/2)x.
- Fran ate 5 times as much as Darla, so Fran ate 5 * (1/2)x = (5/2)x.
The total amount of ice cream eaten is the sum of what each person ate:
Total ice cream = Ellie's portion + Darla's portion + Fran's portion
Total ice cream = x + (1/2)x + (5/2)x
Total ice cream = (4/2)x + (2/2)x + (10/2)x
Total ice cream = (16/2)x
Total ice cream = 8x
Since they ate a whole container of ice cream, the total amount of ice cream is equal to 1:
8x = 1
To find the value of x, we can solve the equation:
x = 1 / 8
x = 0.125
Now that we know the value of x, we can determine how much each person should pay:
- Ellie ate x amount of ice cream, so she should pay $4.00 * x = $4.00 * 0.125 = $0.50.
- Darla ate (1/2)x amount of ice cream, so she should pay $4.00 * (1/2)x = $4.00 * (1/2) * 0.125 = $0.25.
- Fran ate (5/2)x amount of ice cream, so she should pay $4.00 * (5/2)x = $4.00 * (5/2) * 0.125 = $1.25.
Therefore, each person should pay:
- Ellie: $0.50
- Darla: $0.25
- Fran: $1.25