Andrew must spend less than $66 on meals during the weekend. He has already spent $30 on meals, with each meal costing $9 on average. 9x + 30 < 66

Question

How many additional meals can Andrew buy this weekend? Select the inequality that includes the maximum number of additional meals Andrew can buy this weekend while still staying within his budget.

Answer 1

So in this problem, we need to solve for x:

9x + 30 < 66

Just like an equation we need to isolate. Start by subtracting 30:

9x + 30 - 30 < 66 - 30

9x < 36

Now divide by 9:

x < 4

 

See how the inequality is solved just like an equation. The only hiccup you need to worry about for these sorts of problems is when you multiply or divide by a negative number (in which case, you just flip the sign from less than/greater than to greater than/less than).