Question

Paulie ordered 250 pens and 250 pencils to sell for a theatre club fundraiser. The pens cost 11 cents more than the pencils. If Paulie's total order costs $42.50, find the cost of each pen and pencil

Answer 1

Pen: $0.03

Pencil: $0.14

Explanation:

let x be the cost of 1 pencil

this means that the cost of a pen would be x + 0.11

Since she bought 250 pens and 250 pencils, that would be:

250x + 250(x + 0.11) = 42.5

solve:

`250x + 250(x + 0.11) = 42.5\\250x + 250x +27.5=42.5\\500x = 15\\x = 0.03`

This means that the cost of a pencil is $0.03 and the cost of a pen is 11 cents greater, so $0.14.