Final answer:
Sally bought 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts.
Step-by-step explanation:
Let's assume that Sally bought x pairs of pants and y shirts. Each pair of pants costs $28 and each shirt costs $12.
According to the given information, she bought a total of 8 items and spent a total of $144. We can set up the following equations:
x + y = 8 -- equation (1)
28x + 12y = 144 -- equation (2)
To solve this system of equations, we can multiply equation (1) by 12 to eliminate the variable y:
12x + 12y = 96 -- equation (3)
Subtract equation (3) from equation (2) to eliminate the variable y:
(28x + 12y) - (12x + 12y) = 144 - 96
16x = 48
x = 3
Now substitute the value of x back into equation (1) to find y:
3 + y = 8
y = 5
Therefore, Sally bought 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts.