Word Problem-Help!!!

Question

Maria needs 300 pickets for her colorful picket fence. She wants equal amounts of her 4 selected colors. She already has 32 red, 26 green, 9 yellow, and no blue. How many more of each does Maria need to buy? If the pickets cost 25 cents and you get 20% off if you purchase 50 or more of the same color and 30% off if you purchase 60 or more of the same color, how much does Maria spend?

Answer 1

part 1: she needs 300 pickets in equal amounts of the 4 colors

therefore, 300 ÷ 4 = 75 of each color

 

part 2: 75 - 32 red     = 43

           75 - 26 green = 49

           75 - 9 yellow  = 66

           75 - 0 blue     = 75

 

part 3: discounts are available if 50 or 60 of the same color are purchased, so no discounts will be applied to the red and green pickets; since the number of yellow and blue pickets is more than 60 each, a 30% discount will apply, and their unit cost will be $0.25 - (0.25 x 0.3) = $0.25 - 0.075 = $0.175 each

 

part 4: she will buy 43 red + 49 green (92) at $0.25 = $23.00, and 66 yellow + 75 blue (141) at $0.175 = $24.68, and her total expense will be $23.00 + 24.68 = $47.68

          

 

Answer 2

 

Step One: The first thing we need to do is figure out how many pickets of each color she needs.

 

300/4              (300 pickets divided by the four colors)

 

=75                 (she needs 75 pickets of each color)

 

Step Two: Next, we need to figure out how many more of each color she needs. This is done using subtraction.

 

Red: 75-32=43   (total number of red pickets needed subtracted by the number of red pickets she already has)

 

Green: 75-9=49

 

Yello: 75-9=66

 

Blue: 75-0=75

 

 

Step Three: Now, we will figure out how much each color will cost her. Remember, each picket costs 25 cents.

 

Red: 43(25)    (number of red pickets needed multiplied by the cost of each)

 

  =1075 cents

 

1075 cents/100 cents    (done to find the total cost in dollars)

 

= $10.75

 

Because she needed less than 50 pickets, she does not get a discount for red pickets.

 

Green: 49(25)          (number of green pickets needed multiplied by the cost of each)

 

   =1225 cents

 

1225 cents/100 cents      (done to find the total cost in dollars)

 

   =$12.25 

 

Again, since there were fewer than 50 pickets, she does not receive a discount on green pickets.

 

Yellow: 66(25)         (number of yellow pickets needed multiplied by the cost of each)

 

    =1650 cents

 

 1650 cents/100 cents  (done to find the total cost in dollars)

 

     =$16.50

 

Since she needed over 60 yellow pickets, she will receive a 30% discount.

 

   $16.50(.30)      (total cost of yellow pickets multiplied by 30% converted into a decimal)

 

       =4.95

 

$16.50-$4.95        (total cost of yellow pickets subtracted by the discount)

 

    =$11.55

 

Blue: 75(25)       (number of blue pickets needed multiplied by the cost of each)

 

    =1875 cents

 

1875 cents/100 cents           (done to find the total cost in dollars)

 

    =$18.75

 

Since she needed more than 50 blue pickets, she receives a 30% discount.

 

$18.75(.30)         (total cost of blue pickets multiplied by 30% converted into a decimal)

 

    =$5.63

 

$18.75-$5.63        (total cost of blue pickets subtracted by the discount)

 

    =$13.12

 

 

Step Four: Now, you need to add the cost of each picket color together to find the total cost.

 

$10.75+$12.25+$11.55+$13.12=$47.67

 

 

Solution: Maria had to spend $47.67 on pickets.