Question

You are in charge of buying hamburgers and chicken for a party. The hamburgers cost $2 per pound and the chicken costs $3 per pound. You have $60 to spend. Write and solve a linear equation to find how much chicken you can afford to buy if you buy 12

pounds of hamburgers.

Answer 1

Linear equation is 2x + 3y = 60

Chicken that can be afforded is 48 pounds.

Explanation:

Step 1:

Given details are cost of hamburgers per pound = $2 and cost of chicken per pound = $3, total amount for spending = $60

Step 2:

Form equation from given data.

Let x be number of hamburgers bought and y be number of chicken that can be bought.

⇒ 2x + 3y = 60

Step 3:

Given that 12 pounds of hamburgers can be bought. Then 2x = 12. Substitute in equation to find pounds of chicken

⇒ 12 + 3y = 60

⇒ 3y = 60 - 12 = 48

⇒ 3y = 48 pounds or y = 16 (number of chicken that can be bought)