Question

Jill makes purses and backpacks. To make each purse, she uses 1 foot less than 1/2 the amount of fabric she used to make a backpack. Write an expression for the amount of fabric that Jill needs to make a purse. If she uses 7 feet of fabric to make a backpack, how many feet of fabric will she use to make a purse?

Answer 1

Let x be the amount of fabric used to make a backpack, and

y be the amount of fabric used to make purse.

The expression is now

`\begin{gathered} y=(1)/(2)x-1 \\ \\ \text{IF }x=7,\text{ THEN} \\ y=(1)/(2)(7)-1 \\ y=(7)/(2)-1 \\ y=3.5-1 \\ y=2.5 \end{gathered}`

Therefore, she needs 2.5 feet of fabric to make a purse.