Harper and her $15.00

Question

Harper has $15.00 to spend at the grocery store she is going to buy of fruit that cost $4.75 each and one box of crackers. Write and solve an inequality that models this situation and could be used to determine the maximum number of bags of fruit, b, Harper can buy.

Answer 1

This problem isn't worded very well. It says fruit cost $4.75 each but then discusses bags of fruit (b). Let's assume that they mean that $4.75 will buy a BAG of fruit and not just one fruit. Assuming this is correct, the amount Harper will spend on fruit will be 4.75 times the number of bags she buys or 4.75b

Let's let c be the cost of the box of crackers. Then the total she has to spend on fruit is $15.00 - c. That means the amount she spends on fruit (4.75b) must be less than or equal to the amount available (15 - c) so:

4.75b < 15-c

To find the maximum number of bags Harper can buy, divide both sides by 4.75 to get b < (15-c)/4.75