You have $12 in nickels and quarters. If you have the same number of each kind of coin, how many nickels do you have?

Question

This question don't make sense to me!

 

Answer 1

n=# of nickels

q=# of quarters

$12 is 1200 cents

5n+25q=1200

n=q

substitute q for n or n for q

5q+25q=1200

30q=1200

q=1200/30

q=40 quarters and therefore n=40 nickels

40 quarters is $10 and 40 nickels is $2, therefore you have $12

 

Answer 2

The question is asking you to figure as if you have the same number of nickels and quarters. For instance if you had 5 nickels and 5 quarters, how much money would you have? If that's not $12, then try 6 nickels and 6 quarters. and so on.