Question

At Health Hair, the cost of a children's haircut, x, is $4 and the cost of an adult haircut, y, is $14. The sales from Friday were $568. There were 42 haircuts in all.

Write a system to represent the situation and solve the system and interpret the answer.

Answer 1

x + y = 42

4x + 14y = 568

x = 2, y = 40

Explanation:

x + y = 42

4x + 14y = 568

to solve, you can let 'x' = 42-y and substitute this expression for 'x' in the second equation to get:

4(42-y) + 14y = 568

168 - 4y + 14y = 568

168 + 10y = 568

10y = 400

y = 40

therefore, x = 2

check:

4(2) + 14(40) should equal 568

8 + 560 = 568