Question

Noah wrote the expression 10m - 2c to represent the following scenario.

A bakery sells muffins for $2 each and cakes for $10 each. Write an expression that gives the amount of money, in
dollars, the bakery makes from selling m muffins and c cakes.
Explain why Noah's expression is incorrect. Provide the correct expression that represents the scenario.

Answer 1

Noah's expression is wrong because he used the wrong coefficients for the variables, and he used a subtraction sign instead of an addition sign.

The correct expression is 2m + 10c

Explanation:

Noah is incorrect because he used the wrong coefficients for both of the variables in the expression.

Since muffins are $2 each, and m is the number of muffins, the amount of money made from the muffins is 2m, not 10m.

Similarly, since cakes are $10 each, and c is the number of cakes, the amount of money made from the cakes is 10c, not 2c.

Noah is also incorrect because he used a subtraction sign instead of an addition sign. The amounts made from the muffins and cakes have to be added together.

Putting all of this together, the correct expression is 2m + 10c.