Question

I bought one more pound of apples than i did bananas. Apples cost $3.40/lb and bananas cost $2.30/lb. My total cost was $31.90. How many pounds of bananas did I buy.

Answer 1

You bought 5 pounds of bananas

Explanation:

Firstly, we assign variables.

Let the number of pounds of bananas bought be b and the number of pounds of apple bought be a .

One more pound of apples than bananas were bought.

Mathematically this means a - b = 1 or a = b+ 1 .........(i)

The total cost of apples bought is 3.4 * a = $3.4a

The total cost of bananas bought is 2.30 * b = $2.30b

Now the addition of both equals $31.90

Thus, we have;

3.4a + 2.3b = 31.9 •••••••••(ii)

From i, we can substitute for a

3.4(b+1) + 2.3b = 31.9

3.4b + 3.4 + 2.3b = 31.9

5.7b + 3.4 = 31.9

5.7b = 31.9 - 3.4

5.7b = 28.5

b = 28.5/5.7

b = 5 pounds