During an election campaign, a candidate gave away 5000 little advertisements.

Question

During an election campaign, a candidate gave away 5000 little advertisements. The pens he gave away cost $0.23 each and the bumper stickers cost $0.14 each. He spent a total of $970.00 for the pens and bumper stickers. How many pens did he give away?

Answer 1

Desiree,

 

Let's say the he gave away x pens and y bumper stickers. Then we can describe the number of total advertisements:

x+y=5000

 

And the total cost:

.23x+.14y=970

 

Then to eliminate one variable by multiplying the first equation by .-23 and adding to the second:

-.23x-23y=-1150

.23x+.14y=970

-.09x=-180

y=2000 bumper stickers

which means he gave away 3000 pens

 

Checking our work: 2000*.14+3000*.23=280+690=970

 

Hope that helps!