Difficult Worded Question- ERGENT NEED OF HELP

Question

"could you change $2 for me for the paring meter?" inquired the young woman. "Sure," I replied, knowing I had more than $2 in change in my pocket. In actual fact however, although I did have more than $2 in change, i could not give the woman exactly $2. What is the largest amount of change I could have in my pocket without being able to give change for $2 exactly?

Answer 1

The solution to this problem depends on what 'change' means. If it means lower denomination coins like quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies then here is the solution for largest change. 

We want to maximize our number of coins, but minimize the total value above $2.00.

 

Solution:

Person should have 199 pennies- which is $1.99 and 1 nickel- which is $0.05. This is a total of $2.04. So person has more than $2.00 in change, but cannot give exact change for $2.00. This is also the largest amount of change. Any other combination will give you less number of coins.