Austin has $0.56 worth of pennies and nickels. He has a total of 20 pennies and nickels altogether. Determine the number of pennies and the number of nickels that Austin has.

Answer 1

Hi Olivia, let p represent the pennies and n represent the nickels. Set up a system of equations.

Equation 1, number of coins:

p + n = 20

Equation 2, amount:

.01p + .05n = .56

System to solve:

p + n = 20

.01p + .05n = .56

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Solve by substitution:

p + n = 20

p = 20 - n

.01(20 - n) + .05n = .56

.20 - .01n + .05n = .56

Combine terms:

.04n = .36

n = 9

Austin has nine nickels

From equation 1:

p + 9 = 20

p = 11

Austin has 11 pennies

Questions?