Question

Mr. Wilkerson bought frozen treats for 34 children. Each child picked either a popsicle or an ice cream bar. Each popsicle cost $2 and each ice cream bar cost $5. If Mr. Wilkerson spent a total of $128, how many of each type of treat did he buy?

Answer 1

Answer: He bought 20 ice cream bars and 14 popsicle

Explanation:

To solve this I used the elimination method, you could use substitution as well

Here are our two equations

x+y=34 Because the total number of ice creams bought must be given to 34 children and no more

2x+5y=128 because that is the cost for each ice cream and the amount he spent

For the elimination method we have to cancel out one of the variables, I decided to cancel out the x, so I multiplied the top equation by -2. So i got -2x-2y=-68

2x+5y=128 Then we get

3y=60 so

y=20

Now we can go back to the first equation and plug in y.

x+20=34

-20 -20

x=14

So he bought 14 popsicles and 20 ice cream bars.