Juana works at a delicatessen and it is her turn t make the zesty olive blend. If arbequina olives are $9 per pound and green olives are $4 per pound, how much

Question

of each olive should she mix to get five pounds of zesty olive blend that will sell for $6 a pound

 

Answer 1

Let A = the weight of arbequina olives in the mix

Let G = the weight of green olives in the mix

 

Since we know that the mix is 5 pounds total, we have this:

G + A = 5

G = 5 - A

 

We are asked for 5 pounds of mix that will sell for $6 per pound, so the total cost is $30.

 

 

Therefore, we can form the following equation:

 

A*9 + G*4 = 30

 

Using substitution, we can express G in terms of A:

 

9A + 4*(5-A) = 30

9A + 20 -4A = 30

5A + 20 = 30

5A = 10

A = 2

 

Therefore A = 2 and G = 3