A party rental company has chairs and tables to rent. There were two customers who rented both chairs and tables last week.

Question

The display below shows the number of chairs, the number of tables, and the total cost (in dollars) for those two customers.

First customer: 8 Chairs, 3 Tables, Total cost (in dollars): 42

Second customer: 2 Chairs, 5 Tables, Total cost (in dollars): 53

Let x

 be the cost (in dollars) to rent a chair. 

Let y

 be the cost (in dollars) to rent a table. 

(a) Write a system of equations that could be used to find the rental cost (in dollars) of each chair and each table.

(b) How much does each chair and each table cost (in dollars) to rent?

Answer 1

A) 8x+3y=42

2x+5y=53

B) Multiply the second equation by -4

-4(2x+5y=53)=-8x-20y=-212 add that to the first equation

-8x-20y=-212

8x+3y=42

-17y = -170

Divide both sides by -17

y=$10

8x+3y=42

Substitute y=10 into the above and solve for x

8x+3(10)=42

8x+30=42

-30 -30

8x= 12

Divide by 8 both sides

X=12/8=$1.50