FIND THE PRICE OF EACH ITEM

Question

Mr. Rodriguez bought a laser party box along with a power inverter so he could use it in his car. if the two items added$49.37 before tax and their difference was 6.61 before tax find the price for each item.

Answer 1

Hi, Seth.

Okay, so we have 2 unknown values.

Let's call the items X and Y.

So now we have 2 equations:

X + Y = 49.37

and

X - Y = 6.61

If we add Y to each side of the 2nd equation, we get:

X = 6.61 + Y

Now, we can substitute that into the 1st equation for X.

X + Y = 49.37

(6.61 + Y) + Y = 49.37

6.61 + 2Y = 49.37

2Y = 49.37 - 6.61

2Y = 42.76

Y = 21.38

Now, if we substitute 21.38 for Y in the first equation we get:

X + 21.38 = 49.37

X = 27.99

So that means that are 2 items cost::

$27.99 and $21.38

Since the question doesn't specify which item costs the most, we aren't completely sure which item is which. Possibly, the party box would cost more than the inverter, but it's not for sure.