Tara wants to buy a charm bracelet. Wildgrove Fine Jewelry charges $14 per charm, plus $31 for the bracelet. Nelson Jewelers, in contrast, charges $15 per charm

Question

Tara wants to buy a charm bracelet. Wild grove Fine Jewelry charges $14 per charm, plus $31 for the bracelet. Nelson Jewelers, in contrast, charges $15 per charm and $28 for the bracelet. If Tara wants to add a certain number of charms to her bracelet, the cost will be the same at either jewelry shop. How many charms would that be? What would the total cost of the bracelet be?

Answer 1

At Wildgrove, the cost of a bracelet with X charms is 31+14X. At Nelson, a bracelet with X charms costs 28+15X. The problem suggests setting these equal: 28 + 15X = 31 + 14X. This equation simplifies to X = 3. That's the number of charms where the two stores' prices match. The actual cost is obtained by plugging X = 3 into either original expression.